Merry Christmas from CHAT and Church Hill Academy,
This year, like the five that preceded, CHAT hosted a Halloween party. As founder and CEO of CHAT and one of the people who helped start Church Hill Academy, it was my duty to get hit in the face by over 300 whipped-cream pies. Fortunately for me, we ran out of pies before we ran out of kids (there were over 400). The next morning, we loaded up with all the students from the Academy and headed off on a five hour jaunt at Appalachian State University, where the students toured and learned about college life. Needless to say, I got a horrible cold that stayed with me for most of the month of November. When I was a kid, I got sick for all the wrong reasons. I would walk barefoot in freezing temperatures, or decide that I really didn’t need sleep as much as I needed to conquer the next level of Super Mario Brothers. It felt good to finally be sick for the right reasons. . . to watch kids excited (and safe) as they played games to win candy with people from their own community . . . to be pleasantly surprised at the behavior and interactions of our kids as they challenged themselves on a ropes course in the mountains of North Carolina. These are all the ‘right reasons’ for getting sick for a month. Thank you for your support and prayers for both CHAT and the Academy. Without you, we just wouldn’t have the resources to make these dreams a reality.
Some of you might be saying, why are things separated like this? Aren’t CHAT and Church Hill Academy the same group? In a communal sense, yes! We work with the same kids, volunteers, staff, building and vision. However, from an organizational standpoint, CHAT and the Academy are separate entities that must have a different Board of Directors, financial records, and bank accounts. CHAT is primarily an ‘after-school’ program that does academic work, life-skills training, and leadership development. The Academy, on the other hand, is a full-out high school that is serving some long-time participants in CHAT. For this reason, we would ask that if you are giving to CHAT that you make your payment to CHAT. If you are giving to the Academy, then please write the check to Church Hill Academy. This will help us make sure that the money gets to the right place (and help us with our records). Just to let you know, in the future, we will be sending both newsletters for CHAT and the Academy together. This allows us to be a better steward of our resources in not sending out multiple mailers. It also gives you a bigger picture of the extent of work that is going on in the city of Richmond.
We are sending this letter for two reasons. First, we want to thank you and to update you on the great work that is happening at CHAT and the Academy. Second, we want to let you know about a wonderful giving opportunity that you have before the end of this calendar year. A donor has offered to match your end of year gifts up to $10,000. That means if we get $10,000 dollars in donations that this person will give $10,000 on top of that. Please take this opportunity to help us meet budgetary goals and be ready for the next stage of the work with CHAT and the Academy. We currently need $15,000 more to make sure that the Academy will finish on budget and $5,000 for CHAT. Our staff are woefully underpaid and incredibly overworked. When the money doesn’t come in, they merely take less for themselves so that the kids get the opportunities that they deserve. Are you this passionate about your work? The staff at CHAT and the Academy are. Please bless them and our students by giving generously during this Christmas season.
Once again, thank you for all that you do: from giving, to cooking for the school, to dressing up like a monster to scare kids, to tutoring, and to praying for us. It is appreciated. From all us at CHAT and the Academy, we wish you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Sincerely,
Percy L. Strickland
CEO of Church Hill Activities and Tutoring
Co-founder of Church Hill Academy
