Honolulu Theatre for Youth Awarded $50,000 Target Grant

Honolulu Theatre for Youth has been awarded a $50,000 grant from Target. In recognition of HTY's efforts to bring learning to life via professionally produced live theatre performances for young people, the grant will pay for buses to transport underprivileged children from Title 1 schools on Oahu and Hawaii Island to attend HTY plays throughout the 2012-13 season.

HTY has received annual grants from Target since 2008. Last year, 47 Hawaii Title 1 schools participated in the program and 19,642 students were transported to HTY shows on buses paid for by Target. HTY also subsidizes the ticket cost for these students.

Title 1 is the nation's oldest and largest federally funded program, according to the U.S. Department of Education. Annually, the DOE provides more than $14 billion in supplemental funding to local school districts across the country to meet the needs of at-risk and low-income students.

Since 1946, Target has given five percent of its income to the communities it serves, equaling more than $3 million every week. Their more than 1,700 Target Stores carry on this tradition by making local grants and providing volunteer hours. Target is on track to give $1 billion for education by the end of 2015 to help kids learn, schools teach and parents and caring adults engage.

Thanks to Target's grant, a projected 20,000 low-income students will be able to experience the following plays from HTY's 2012-13 Season, A Collection of Classics:

Five Chinese Brothers, August-September, 2012

Spooky, October, 2012

Christmas Talk Story, November-December 22, 2012

Rap's Hawaii, January, 2013

Call It Courage, February-March, 2013

Musubi Man, February-March 9, 2013

Charlotte's Web, April-May, 2013

For event tickets or more information, to receive a season brochure, order tickets to a show or learn more about HTY's educational programming call 839-9885 or go to www.htyweb.org. Honolulu Theatre for Youth is Hawaii's non-profit professional theatre company providing theatre and drama education programs that make a difference in the lives of Hawaii's young people and families. Founded in 1955, HTY is recognized the world over as one of America's most honored theatres.

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