Happy 2025 to all who have supported our philanthropic activities in 2024! It occurred to us you may be curious as to where your funds go, so herein you'll learn a little bit about what we did in 2024 and what you can expect in 2025. We've also updated our SPONSORTUNITIES offerings for 2025.
Whimsicalitea is a federally recognized 501(c)(3) arts philanthropy founded to nurture creativity and inspire artistic expression with an emphasis on lifelong learning and connection.
Along with the Academy of Omniosophical Arts & Sciences, we have given more than $100K in financial assistance & patronage to creative individuals to help them prosper in their endeavors as they bring beauty and wonder to the world. We also support established organizations such as museums and humanitarian charities.
Over the last two years we launched a number of programs specifically designed for children and families, and we are honored to have been invited to work with Scoutreach and Sea Scouts on a variety of projects as well to participate in their merit badge program. Equally thrilling, our Magic of Omnimmersive Learning curriculum launches this year.
📸 2024 Snapshot:
💐 Kindness Counts — our story-based anti-bullying program created for members of the whole family with an interactive novella, 30-day Advent{ure} Calendar, Teachizz™ edition, immersive learning lessons, author narrations.
🏴☠️ Shared Treasure Hunt — our kids-helping-kids activity. We made a wonderful connection with Scoutreach (the arm of Scouts that serves under-resourced children) and hope to work with them more closely. (They experienced some internal communication problems that left us twiddling our thumbs for an hour at the park, but they plan to rectify that). The great news is, more than 40 backpacks of school supplies were delivered to children in need, and those who did come to the park had a ball. Our contact at Sea Scouts thinks our setup was phenomenal and she's given me lots of hugs since!
🎨 Omnifête — our arts & crafts & vendor fair was held at a new venue (Old World Village in Huntington Beach) with a WitchCraft theme. Attendance was a steady trickle, and as always, lessons were learned.
🥳 Kids Club in New Jersey was a hit during its first full year with growing numbers and very happy participating families thanks to club-runner, educator, family success coach, and mother of 3 Heather Brims, Ed.S, CPC, ELI-MP.
📚 The Reading Revolution — Joy & Heather have put together a number of free online training courses for parents to help them get their kids into reading & learning.
🧦 We held a mini book drive and gave away books in Christmas stockings hung on the fence at Joy's place (which is in a high-foot-traffic area that is popular during the holidays). Folks loved it (based on their comments that they didn't know I could hear heehee). I plan to do this again, potentially for Easter (using baskets).
🔎 We hosted 4 mystery games at Pamela's Tea Room (in SoCal) as a favor. I think all may have been sold out? The last one required a 2nd seating, so yay!
👫 We added delightful board members in various parts of the country.
💰 Our fundraisers, sponsorships, and donations brought in enough to cover the costs of Shared Treasure Hunt & Omnifete plus our overhead for the year (approx $800 per month in 2024) and we were able to pay a number of music professionals the going rate for their incredible services.
👏 Thanks to the talent and tireless efforts of Bradley Miller, Emma Hutchenson, and Patricia Miller, our Phantom MusicaliTea gave us our first standing ovation at a Whimsi event!
🎆 Here's what to look forward to in 2025!
🥳 Kids Club has outgrown its previous digs and has locked in a new temporary location while looking for a permanent home. From here on out, we will have to pay for space at the rate of about $25 per session + supplies. Our overall budget is thus now $900+/month.
🏴☠️ We'll be revisiting Shared Treasure Hunt based on what transpires with Scallywag Camp, Scoutreach, and Sea Scouts. There are some fun options to consider.
🎨 Omnifête is tentatively scheduled for Saturday September 27 in Old World Village with the theme of Mystery. Accepting vendors now!
📚 Omni Tale stories are being released as Kickstarter campaigns and will include options such as interactive novellas, Advent{ure} Calendars, Teachizz™ editions, immersive learning lessons, author narrations. First up will be Time Stowaways featuring main characters ages 8-16 years
The free Reading Revolution training programs for parents to help them get their kids into reading and learning (as mentioned in the 2024 section) will be running on a cyclical basis throughout the year. Because they're free we can put promotional flyers up everywhere!
The darling library on the bay (by me) has been closed for refurbishment for ages (way more than a year). It was supposed to open back up in August, but surprise surprise, the date came and went. The good news is, it's finally on the verge of opening in just a few weeks! I saw a tour video where they showed off some of the upgrades, so it's really close to complete. This would be our West Coast base for Scallywag Camp, Novel Ninjas, and our MagicOL (Magic of Omnimmersive Learning) programs designed to get kids excited about books! Heather is already looking into the library near her for the same programs with an eye toward starting them live in-person with kids weekly this Spring
🎵💰 9 people have already signed up for our spring fundraiser MusicaliTea My Fair Lady — Sunday April 6 at Sip & Sugar in Anaheim Hills (with performers Brad & Emma from Phantom playing the roles). The place holds #30, so we're hoping to sell out!
🎵💰 Our fall fundraiser will be a MusicaliTea as well: The Land of Oz which is a mashup of Wicked, The Wizard of Oz, and The Wiz
🚂 🔍 We hope to host a 1950s-themed weekend train trip in fall to Napa Valley, the beautiful wine country in California
Additionally, Joy is hoping to write a few books which might involve launch teas ... and she is dying to host a Krampus holiday tea (the first Sunday in December) followed by a walk around the festive canals of Naples, Long Beach, CA all decked out with lights.
Thanks for making it to the end of this lengthy missive. Each of you is invaluable to Whimsi and all that we do.
~ With gratitude & hugs from your intrepid Whimsi board.
