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Santa Barbara, CA — Founded by high school students in 2020, Tomato Theatre Company is dedicated to providing affordable theatre education to youth in the Santa Barbara community. The nonprofit runs year-round programs for children of all ages and provides valuable volunteer experience for teens, and their community impact continues to grow. Each year, they provide two completely free Summer Camp programs. During the camps, children in grades K-6 learn an original musical by local high school students over the course of one week, and the campers perform the full show on the final day. This year, the camp hit capacity quickly, with each available spot filling up within one hour of the sign-ups opening. To accommodate this demand, capacity for the camp was increased, and so the organization is seeking to raise as much funding as possible to provide the highest quality experience for its young participants.
As part of this outreach, on Sunday, April 25th, Tomato Theatre Co. will be holding a fundraiser at Trinity Episcopal Church (1500 State St.) to support their mission. "Our annual fundraiser helps us cover the costs of custodial fees, the original set pieces, and costumes, allowing us to make the summer camps completely free for all students," says Malachi Cottrell, Tomato Theatre Board member and junior at Dos Pueblos High School. “By reaching out to our community, we provide local youth with programs that teach important emotional skills and support creativity in a supportive, inclusive environment,” says Tara Jones, fellow Board member and volunteer.