This holiday season, Fort Wayne Cinema Center is hosting a special Wicked for Good donation drive to support two local organizations: YWCA Northeast Indiana and Amani Family Services.
Brianna Datta-Barrow: I'm joined now by Alix Watson of Fort Wayne Cinema Center, Rui Gui of Amani Family Services, and Emily McCorkle of the YWCA Northeast Indiana. Thank you all for being here today.
Alix Watson: Thank you so much for having us.
Rui Gui: Thank you.
Brianna Datta-Barrow: So can we start by telling me what inspired this collaboration and what attendees can expect?
Alix Watson: I think it started a couple years ago when we first did the Barbie drive that was so successful. And I think it just makes sense kind of right before the holidays. If we're going to have a film, or a big film that we know, we're going to get people through the door to, then also be able to use that to do some good in the community too, you know.
The Barbie drive was so overwhelming. We were finding Barbies months later that, you know, we had to deliver after the fact, because there were so many. And I just hope we have another situation like that. I want to be overwhelmed with donations and contributions to Amani. I want to struggle to find room in our spaces. That's how I want the drive to go.
Brianna Datta-Barrow: I love that Cinema Center is known for bringing the community together through film. Why did you choose wicked as the theme for this year's donation drive, and how does it connect to the idea of doing good?
Alix Watson: It's coming out right before Thanksgiving weekend. And so, you know, people are going to be in that mindset of, you know, whether it's Black Friday shopping, and I like the idea of, hey, if you're out there getting something for your own kids or for your family, pick something up as well that you can donate.
If it's not to us, there are a lot of other organizations too that need it right now, the food pantries. So, you know, go have fun with your family. But then also, you know, think about some other families that you can also contribute to.
Brianna Datta-Barrow: Awesome. So could both of you tell me about your organizations and how they serve the Fort Wayne community?
Rui Gui: Amani Family Services is a nonprofit that's been serving Allen County for almost twenty years now, and we work with immigrant and refugee families to promote safety, encourage personal belonging and build a spirit of belonging.
So, a big part of what we do is provide language accessible and culturally accessible services. A lot of our clients don't speak a lot of English or are really new to the ways that our legal system and other things work. They really rely on our caseworkers, victim advocates to access resources across the county.
Your donation this holiday season will really go a long way to helping make sure we can continue that mission and support these individuals and families.
Emily McCorkle: Yes. So YWCA Northeast Indiana, works to actively empower individuals and communities through advocacy, education and support services to ensure dignity for all peoples. We serve six counties so Allen County and the surrounding counties through our domestic violence crisis shelter advocacy services. We also have an addiction recovery program specifically for women and their children that's housed at our building on Washington Center as well.
Brianna Datta-Barrow: Very cool. Thank you guys for the work that you do. So the YWCA is collecting comfort items, like blankets, stuffed animals, socks. Could you talk about how these items will make a difference for the kids that you serve?
Emily McCorkle: Absolutely. So currently, our census is showing we have around seventy kids staying at our shelter. That's over seventy-five percent of our population right now, and we're anticipating that increasing around the holiday season, as times are becoming increasingly stressful for families.
We're just yeah, we're just seeing the numbers rise as a result of a lot of things going on in the world right now. So these comfort items will just kind of provide exactly that comfort for the kiddos staying at the shelter.
They're often coming to our doors with just the things on their back so they might have left their favorite stuffed animal at home or not been able to grab that blanket that they just hold on for comfort. So having those items provided to them would just kind of make things a little easier, as they're staying at our shelter.
Brianna Datta-Barrow: And then Amani Family Services, as you said, supports immigrant and refugee families here in Fort Wayne. Could you talk a little bit more about how the donations made through this event would directly benefit the families that you work with?
Rui Gui: Absolutely, like I mentioned, a lot of our clients don't have a lot of other places to go for the services that we provide. So, if you donate to Amani Family Services, you'd be supporting our substance use classes in Burmese, in Spanish, our free mental health counseling, our interpretation and transportation services for victims of crime and for families that are dealing with a lot of different changes, just like Emily mentioned.
So, we have family case workers who go into the homes and help support families and family preservation work closely with partners such as Iris Family Support Center and DCS to ensure that those families have the support that they need to stay together and take care of their children.
Brianna Datta-Barrow: Wow. So, if listeners want to get involved this holiday season or make a donation, what's the best way for them to do that?
Alix Watson: If they come to any screening of Wicked: For Good at Cinema Center, they just need to bring a donation, a comfort item for children that is brand new, or show proof of a donation to Amani, and we will take care of their popcorn and a month of membership for them in exchange.
Brianna Datta-Barrow: Awesome. And how long? How long is the event running for?
Alix Watson: We currently have three weekends of Wicked For Good screening, and we are also going to be showing the first one as well before.
Brianna Datta-Barrow: Wonderful.
Alix Watson: So plenty of chances to come and donate. It's a small thing, and I wish we could do more in terms of language services. But every weekend we are screening it. We also have Spanish subtitles.
There will be at least one screening every weekend with Spanish subtitles, so that if you have a family member that doesn't, you know, speak English, or even limited English-it's a musical. Sometimes they're hard to follow. If it's near, you know, native language as a subtitle, it'll be easier to follow. So once a week, while we're screening it, we'll have a screening that is subtitled in Spanish.
Brianna Datta-Barrow: Awesome. Well, thank you all for joining us today, and thank you for all the wicked good work that you do for this community.
Rui Gui: Thank you for having us.
Alix Watson: Thank you.
Emily McCorkle: Thank you.
