Ridgefield Playhouse gets boost from Pitney Bowes

This spring, thanks to a generous grant from the Pitney Bowes Foundation’s Literacy & Education Grant Program, students from three Title 1 schools will attend a May 2017 performance of Charlotte’s Web at The Ridgefield Playhouse and participate in specially developed pre-show literacy workshops. As part of The Ridgefield Playhouse Arts for Everyone initiative, students will be coming from Shelter Rock School in Danbury, Julia A. Stark School in Stamford, and Brookside Elementary in Norwalk. For Brookside, this will be their first year participating in the program.

Thanks to a grant from the Pitney Bowes Foundation, the Ridgefield Playhouse (a non-profit performing arts center in Ridgefield, Connecticut) will be able to offer free tickets and busing for a May 2017 performance to three Title 1 schools. The program is returning to Shelter Rock School in Danbury and Julia A. Stark School in Stamford, and will be offered for the first time at Brookside Elementary in Norwalk.) Students will attend a May 2017 production of Charlotte’s Web and take part in special classroom workshops before the performance. Each student will also receive a copy of the E.B. White book on which the show is based. Pictured left to right: Heath Durlester, Community Engagement Manager, Pitney Bowes; Annette Robertson, Development Associate, The Ridgefield Playhouse; Karen Sackowitz, Sponsor Relations Manager, The Ridgefield Playhouse; Kathleen Ryan Mufson, President, Pitney Bowes Foundation; Polly O’Brien Morrow, Program Manager, Global Corporate Citizenship and Philanthropy, Pitney Bowes and Vice President, Pitney Bowes Foundation; Steve Carlson, President, Ridgefield Playhouse Board of Directors and Manager, Collaboration Technologies, Pitney Bowes.

This is the fourth consecutive year that the Pitney Bowes Foundation is supporting the Arts for Everyone initiative, which helps make the performing arts available to economically disadvantaged residents of Fairfield County who cannot afford the cost of admission, even at reduced rates. This year, the Pitney Bowes Foundation’s generous gift will cover costs of tickets to the May performance of Charlotte’s Web, as well as transportation, curriculum development and books for participating students at the three Title 1 schools.

“The Pitney Bowes Foundation is pleased to support this wonderful, interactive arts education program again this year. We know that students’ love of learning and literacy will be strengthened by reading this classic tale and seeing it performed live on stage,” said Kathleen Ryan Mufson, President of the Pitney Bowes Foundation.

Prior to the performance, participating students will explore themes of the story and write descriptive paragraphs about their favorite characters as part of a pre-show literacy workshop conducted by Jodi Simon Stewart, Arts in Education Coordinator for The Ridgefield Playhouse, and volunteers from Pitney Bowes. Each student will also receive a copy of the E.B. White book Charlotte’s Web, on which the show is based.

For info about upcoming Ridgefield Playhouse performances, call the box office at 203-438-5795, or visit ridgefieldplayhouse.org. The Ridgefield Playhouse is a non-profit performing arts center located at 80 East Ridge, parallel to Main Street, Ridgefield, CT.

About the Pitney Bowes Foundation

The Pitney Bowes Foundation is a private entity with a mission to support education and the diverse community interests of Pitney Bowes employees. We commit our resources to closing the achievement gap and preparing the workforce of tomorrow. For information about these programs and other Pitney Bowes Corporate Citizenship and Philanthropy initiatives, please visit www.pitneybowes.com/us/community.

About Pitney Bowes

Pitney Bowes (NYSE:PBI), is a global technology company powering billions of transactions – physical and digital – in the connected and borderless world of commerce. Clients around the world, including 90 percent of the Fortune 500, rely on products, solutions and services from Pitney Bowes in the areas of customer information management, location intelligence, customer engagement, shipping, mailing, and global ecommerce. And with the innovative Pitney Bowes Commerce Cloud, clients can access the broad range of Pitney Bowes solutions, analytics, and APIs to drive commerce. For additional information visit Pitney Bowes, the Craftsmen of Commerce, at www.pitneybowes.com.