Gateway fundraiser is looking for you

Hoping for more joyous shows at The Gateway? Here’s your chance to help.

“A foundation is offering a matching grant up to $100,000,” said The Gateway executive artistic director Paul Allan. “They want to see us to come up with innovative new ways to raise money specific to our organization in our time of need.”

“Naming rights was a first time innovative project for us, that is, naming some of the buildings and areas on the property,” Allan said of their initiative. “The low end for a name say in the bar area for example, is a $5,000 contribution.

“The plaques with people’s names and a short paragraph of what Gateway means to them, is another initiative,” he continued. “They are going in the breezeway between the lobby and the main theatre and they’ll match the décor of the breezeway. Those are $500 each.

“It will go down in history as the fundraising efforts that pushed us out of Covid and into the future.”

As with all theaters and concert venues, it’s too soon give a definite date as to when The Gateway will blast out another great show and in what capacity.

“We’re going week to week,” Alllan said. “We’ll be rolling out live shows late May or early summer.”

This is what funding will support.

“The money we’re raising helps the organization survive for potentially smaller audiences,” he said of the reality. “We want to have shows but there won’t be enough audiences in the beginning to make money. We’ll be presenting shows for less people and as the year continues we can increase the capacity. But the cost to produce the shows won’t be any less.”

People have been digging into their pockets to support the beloved non profit.

“We’re almost halfway there to the $100,000 mark and have gotten a lot of good response,” Allan said. “But the matching grant expires December 31. If you want to contribute, just go to the website, thegateway.org. Or call me direct at 631-286- 2346.”