Danville Nonprofits and Charities

My family got involved with Willow Creek during the pandemic to give us something to do and I wanted to raise my kids with giving hearts. Since then we’ve grown to see them as family. The cats are so loved by us all and my kids have volunteered one day a week for 4 years, not even taking a break on holidays. <br> <br>Volunteering involves feeding and watering the kitties, scooping litter, and some minor cleaning. And the reward is all the love you can handle.

The Community Arts Center provides an abundance of arts programming to its members within Boyle County and beyond. The Center provides excellent rotating visual exhibitions that feature local, regional and national artists. A themed blockbuster event is also developed annually that integrates the arts, sciences and humanities. There are many rooms where independent instructors provide individual and group instruction from dance to music to visual arts. The Center also has a very popular program, Starry Night Studio, where each month people register for a single class led by an artist to paint either a classic or new work (selected in advance). I brought my entire staff for a private class last year for the holidays and we had an amazing time together doing something fun. While the painting was the same, each of our interpretations reminded us as co-workers that we all have a common goal but see and do things differently. Staff instantly wanted to return as the holiday staff gathering the next year. What a great way to spend time together, be creative and everyone take home a piece of art.

I am a playwright and an advocate for Kentucky playwrights. I have been involved in theatre in some way, as an actor, director, producer, stage, manager, props, etc. for 48 years. My first trip to Danville and Pioneer Playhouse was back in the late 1960s. Most recently, I attended two shows this past, 2014 summer season. The quality of the shows is always high. The acting almost always superb. Yet, what I go for is to see the production of new plays by Kentucky playwrights. Those I always enjoy. <br> <br>Since Kentucky Repertory Theatre closed a couple of years ago venues for Kentucky playwrights have constricted. There are still new plays being produced. But Pioneer Playhouse's Kentucky Voices series is important. It is not that other venues don't do a good job (they almost always do), but that they do not have the visibility of Pioneer Playhouse. <br> <br>Pioneer Playhouse nearly always sells out every night of its shows. Over the years I have been to shows virtually every night that they have been producing. Sometimes a Wednesday or Thursday or Sunday as well as (for me) the better nights of Friday and Saturday. I don't recall being to a show on a weekend that didn't exceed 85% full; earlier in the week shows seem to always exceed 70%. That is remarkable for an outdoor theatre. <br> <br>They have moved into other projects-- at the nearby prison and providing programs for grade school and high school students as well. <br> <br>But what brings me back year in and year out is the new plays by Kentucky playwrights. And those they get right: time after time.