Velocity Thanks our latest campaign donors!

Huge thanks to our latest campaign donors:

Team Diva Real Estate
Retail Therapy
Matt Gilson
THE PRUZAN FOUNDATION (woot woot!)
PAUL G. ALLEN FAMILY FOUNDATION

And all those who attended the incredible Michael Jackson Dance Off --a collaborative fundraising event with the Century Ballroom. We were able to raise over a bunch of money and learn "Beat It."

IT'S FINALLY HERE!!! - THE TENANT IMPROVEMENT PERMIT

About three weeks ago the city had all the paperwork it needed from both Velocity and our landlord in order to approve our application for beginning tenant improvement construction in our new space. They said we could get it in 48 hours. This unfortunately was right in the middle of the city's budgeting process and happening amidst rampant cuts and staff layoffs, so we didn't hold our breath on getting it immediately.

Kara got a phone call about our permit being ready three weeks later and immediately headed down to the DPD to pick it up. Things were tense in that office and as she waited for the front desk person to get our permit out of a huge box of paperwork, she tried to ignore the man with his face in his hands. "It's not here," the lady said. And after a short pause, "I'm just playing with ya."

real funny.

but, anyway, we have it!!! full steam ahead!

THIS IS NOT A FLASH MOB

Attendees follow Amy O and Karn Junkinsmith in a mini routine to sledgehammer at Velocity's Groundbreaking Party. The original group was about 30 people - suits, babies, glasses of champagne in hand. All had to participate so no one was able to get a video.

Breakin' Ground

Come join us for our groundbreaking ceremony! Celebrate the beginning of Velocity's new home.
After months of fundraising, permitting, and construction planning, we are able to start demolition effectively starting the countdown to our much-anticipated relocation!

On Wednesday October 28th, join our groundbreaking party to celebrate the start of the build out!

Breaking Ground on the New Velocity Dance Center
Wednesday, October 28th | 5:30pm - 7:00pm
1621 12th Avenue, Seattle, WA 98112
Toasts, Walk-Throughs, and Special Guest Performances.
I've heard rumors of special sledgehammer dance phrases and some fiddlin'!

AND take a look at latest contributors to the Velocity Forever capital campaign!

Andrew Chapman
Shawn Jezerinac
Carol Sanders
Michael Steward*
Jens Wazel
Deborah Wolf

Thank you all for your support and generosity!

* Yes, Michael Steward IS Jeremy Steward's brother - SO don't forget to ask your family and friends to support what's important in your life, you never know what they might contribute on your behalf!

First Velocity Work Party A Success!

Thanks to everyone who helped out this weekend and last with clearing out our new home at 1221 12th Ave. With all your hard work we are one step closer to starting construction on the space! Demolition is rolling right along - the proof is in the photo.

Again thanks to our great team of volunteers:

Michael Rutter
Jenny Gerber
Anne Lawrence
KT Niehoff
Kirby Kallas-Lewis
Jason Svendsen
Jared Vincench
Joe Timmons
Ryan Faught

When the Walls Come Tumblin Down

Building Carnage. . . Signs of Progress.


Destruction in Studio 3




Mark and Jake from Model Remodel

An extreme diet for extreme work.

Thanks to our new campaign donors! Still have some tickets left!

Super Big Thank Yous to Today's Awesome New Campaign Donors :

Hendri Walujo
Sara Jinks and Laurel Canan
Sandra Fried
Mari London
Joerg Gablonsky

Also, we still have some Hubbard Street Tickets left for 10/23, If you want to check availability before making your donation of $100 or greater, then please email shannon(at)velocitydancecenter.org.

Also, there's a rumor that we might actually be starting demolition in the new building tomorrow!!!

Donate to Velocity and Get Hubbard Street Tix!

Good morning dedicated Velocity supporter,

We are excited to announce that we have partnered with Seattle Theater Group to provide tickets to their upcoming presentation of Hubbard Street Dance. We have 60 tickets available and we will be giving a pair to the next 30 people who donate to our Velocity Forever Campaign at the $100 level or greater.

Click here to make a gift (make sure to include your email address within your information!).

Don't miss this opportunity to see a great dance company during their 30th anniversary season, and in doing so help Velocity Dance Center move into a new home on Capitol Hill!

For more information on Hubbard Street Dance's performance visit:
stgpresents.org and come to the Hubbard Street master class on October 22nd at 10am at Velocity!

For more information, feel free to contact Shannon Stewart shannon(at)velocitydancecenter.org.

New Velocity 200 Donors

Super big thanks to our latest Velocity Forever Donors:

Sheli Potmesil
Yuki Enomoto (donating all the way from japan!)
Team Diva Real Estate
Shannon Barnes
Amanda Goodwin
Lauren Williams


Much appreciation to Jessica Miller for making a monthly donation! Donations made on an ongoing basis truly sustain Velocity.

Velocity Thanks Kelly Sullivan for all Her Hard Work!

Yesterday was Kelly Sullivan's last day working as Development Associate at Velocity Dance Center and we want to give her a special shout out. For the last two years, Kelly has been tirelessly writing grant proposals, thanking donors, planning events and successfully managing many a random projects that come her way. I can hardly comprehend how much work she did for Velocity and how much she will be missed. Thanks Kelly!

Great Photos of people in the space pre-construction

Tim Summers took these awesome photos in the new space.

We're still waiting on the certificate of occupancy from the city before we can begin construction. More news in the next two weeks.

La Charme

Behold La Charme. . .

Donating is fun.

The last $50 donation I processed for Velocity's new space was made in honor of a birthday lap dance performed by Waxy Moon at the Single Ladies Dance Off.

Who says fundraising is boring?

The Velocity Forever 200 Club Inaugural Members - $48,000!

Hiya! Welcome to the Velocity Forever blog, a webspace created for Velocity staff and volunteers to share the good word of generosity and progress that comes across the development desk and computer screen on a regular basis. That is, the names, gifts, and words of encouragement from the Velocity donor community, people that are helping Velocity land safe and sound in a new home.

As development director, tracking this progress is something that I think should be open to everyone and am super excited to share! We have some seriously selfless folks out there, some mildly wealthy people, and a LOT of broke artists scraping together monthly donations to this campaign. It's totally awesome.

Still, between now and Jan of 2010, Velocity needs 140 more donors to join our Velocity 200 Club by making a doantion to the Capital Campaign.

The following people have stepped up to the plate and become an inaugural givers to the campaign.

Glen Kawasaki
Jeremy Steward
Anne Lawrence
Fumi Murakami
Ahsan Kabir
Mari London and Mark Popich
Eliza Larsen
Isabelle Bouanna
David True and Sara Hufbauer
Pam and Bob Gregory
Wendy Cohen
Beth Hamby
Lisa Sedor
Neil Coffey
Roel Hammerschlag & Michele Landa
Abigail Halperin & Christian Swenson
Kathleen Kerschbaum & Robert Cunningham
Sarah Rudinoff
Hannah Wiley
Violette Tucker
Sharron & Dan O'Donnell
Kitty Daniels
Carla Barragan
Jessica Gleason
Marissa Niederhauser
Jessica Young
Lisa Perpuse
Michael S. Geiger
Liz Young
Cathy Dorson
Margaret Salome
Kristin Gentile
Melissa Conklin
Maki Morinoe
Eliza Larsen

What a great start! VFF! Velocity Hearts You.

A little background. . .
Velocity Forever is a capital campaign to relocate and build out a new facility for Velocity Dance Center. Having secured the perfect building, Velocity needs everyone's participation to transform the raw space into a center for training, performance, and community gathering. The campaign is about $700K (not to big for a capital campaign) and we need to raise about 1/7 of that from individuals.

***********
In other fundraising news, when I opened the Murdock grant that I have been working on for 6 months, it looked like this

!@#$@%$ #$%^^$%*^&*(^&)
@$@$#$^
%^&^&(&*()

and I almost lost it. Luckily, I restarted everything and it was fine.

OH AND DON'T FORGET ABOUT THE SINGLE LADIES DANCE OFF TOMORROW NIGHT! It can simply not be missed.

Until next time,

Shannon