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Reader Email
What a great opportunity you are offering small businesses during these very trying times. As a business owner in Illinois, we have been held to the strictest guidelines by Gov. Pritzker. I have applied for grants with very little luck. As a mother of two and having owned my dance Studio for 18 years, this year has been nothing short of a struggle. When we were put into our first "lockdown" in March, I felt terrible for my contracted dance teachers so I continued to pay them in full even though the studio was closed. We all hoped it would be a temporary situation. However, that closure lasted through the summer for us.
Covid-19 forced us to close our doors in March. We attempted/provided Zoom classes t
o keep the children dancing. We were forced to cancel our June Recital, summer programs and our Annual Nutcracker. While we were able to briefly open this fall, our local guidelines and family concerns have reduced our enrollment from 275 down to 150 students. The studio has implemented additional sanitation processes as well. We have also chosen to limit class size to adhere to social distancing guidelines. We are investing in virtual software to offer at home dance classes for those who cannot attend or are forced to "stay at home". Recently our Governor returned us to a Tier 3 state, which as a dance studio, forces us to close our doors based on the "no group classes" rules.
This grant/gift could be utilized in so many ways. While I was awarded a very small PPP loan (approx. one month worth of payroll), I halted my own pay months ago to make sure I could pay my lease and contractors (as they were not able to be included in my PPP application). Having been forced to cancel summer programs and both of our big productions this year, we have been struggling to keep our doors open. My teachers/contractors are like family to me and I have continued to pay them throughout the pandemic from my savings account. The funds could help me continue to pay my teachers, make lease payment and utility payments (approx. $8,000 total per month) until we can return to our regular schedules as our enrollment has dipped about 45%.
Aside from providing a fun safe studio environment for thousands of young dancers over the last 17 years, The Academy of Ballet Wauconda has performed at local festivals, Main Street events and senior centers. As a business, I am always open to making donations to our school events, chamber of commerce and other organizations. We also do a studio food drive for our local food pantry twice a year. Our wonderful dance families donate enough non perishable food items to fill a box truck. Our Nutcracker performance is attended by almost 1,000 locals and many families have made attending a family tradition. Some of our dancers have gone on to study dance in college and perform professionally.
I would like to personally thank you in advance for your consideration. Any help would be greatly appreciated. We are doing everything in our powers to make sure our dance families have a studio to return to when the Covid-19 situation under control and we can return to normal operations.
Regards,
Melissa Hayden
Owner and Artistic Director
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