The Pella Christian Theatre Troupe have not just spent the last few months preparing for their upcoming fall musical Mary Poppins, but they also organized a fundraiser. On Wednesday, the Theatre Troupe Officers met with The Children and Families of Iowa in Des Moines, where they presented a check for $660 to help families all over Iowa.

“I am so proud of them,” said Marlo Van Peursem, Director of Theatre at Pella Christian High School. “They organized and carried out this project almost entirely on their own. It was their idea.”

The idea was inspired, in part, from the Iowa High School Musical Theatre Awards program. High school students were encouraged to creatively and effectively integrate their musical theatre production within their community to meet a community need or promote social change.

“Since Mary Poppins is a nanny and helps the Banks family heal their broken relationships, we wanted to work with an organization that had the same idea in mind,” said Abby Dart, Pella Christian Theatre Troupe President. “The musical is also set in London, so we chose a tea party theme for the fundraiser.”

The fundraiser was held September 23 at Pella’s Memorial Building from 3:00 – 5:00 pm. At the tea party, kids were able to meet some of the cast members, take pictures with them, sing fun songs, and have tea and crumpets with their family. The cast, dressed in their musical costumes, also gave a sneak preview of the musical to them by singing to them two of the show’s favorite numbers.

Officers of Pella Christian’s Theatre Troupe include Abby Dart, Mia Andringa, Lauren Winn, and Rachel Lanferman.

“We had such a fun time planning this event for our town,” concludes Dart. “Bonding with our community and giving back to an organization that supports families in Iowa was truly a rewarding experience for all of us.”