Dear ESF Families,

Talk about a whirlwind! For two days straight this summer, NBC’s GIVE and their production company, Bungalow Entertainment, came to ESF Dream Camp Foundation and Acting Without Boundaries’ workshop to film “a day in the life of..”

I had recently looked at my “bucket list,” it’s actually more of a “interested in” list, and one item that caught my attention was “learn how a TV show is produced.” Well, my questions were answered when 4 cameramen, 3 producers and 2 celebrities from GIVE showed up at Temple University, home of the ESF Dream Camp Foundation. They got to work quickly, setting up shots and interviews with our amazing campers.

The ESF Dream Camp Foundation is a 5-week summer program and 10-month after school program for under-served children in the Philadelphia and Hartford areas. The programs offer a range of activities, including chess, healthy cooking, dance and violin; all educational and all fun. The GIVE film crew really captured the essence and as JR Martinez, our guest celebrity put it, “these kids are really being exposed to things that they normally wouldn’t be exposed to … and for me, it was eye opening.”

Next, we traveled about 30 minutes west to The Haverford School, home of Acting Without Boundaries, also started by the ESF family. AWB, as we call it, is a theatre program with 3 annual performances, monthly workshops, and quarterly social events for children and adults with physical disabilities. GIVE’s celebrity ambassador James Pickens Jr., or Dr. Richard Webber for all of the Grey’s fans out there, jumped right up on stage an introduced himself to our actors. Our actors face big challenges such as cerebral palsy, vision impairments and hearing impairments, but I quickly forgot this as I watched this talented group fall right into sync with their debut TV interviews.

As the managing director for both of these phenomenal organizations, I felt like a proud mom, watching her children get their just desserts. Join us in early November as we’ll be planning a private viewing of the GIVE episode and a celebratory party. You are all invited so stay turned for more details!

Yours,

Leah Evans

 This blog was written by Leah Evans, Managing Director for AWB and ESF Dream Camp Foundation.