Drew's Shoes

Deana Buckley and her daughters all study dance at the Straz Center’s Patel Conservatory in Tampa. When she heard about the ballet classes the Conservatory provides to disadvantaged children, Deana volunteered to help.

After Deana started helping with the classes, she told her daughter, 10-year-old Drew, about students whose parents couldn’t afford new ballet shoes.

Drew knew that proper shoes help with dance form and movement. She wanted to do something. So, with her mother’s help, Drew collected money to buy new ballet shoes for all 100 kids at the Metropolitan Ministries Partnership K-5 School in Tampa. Black shoes for the boys and pink for the girls.

For most of these children it was their first pair of their own ballet shoes. For some it was their first pair of new shoes ever. “The shoes make them feel special,” Drew said. “Like a real ballerina.”

Kids grow, and a dance student can go through two or three pairs of shoes in a year. That’s why Drew and her mother are committed to continuing to raise funds to help properly equip dance students in need.

Go here to make a donation and help us help Drew!

(Note: Please disregard the references to seats and ticketing on the following page. This standard template insures that your charitable gift will go directly to support Drew’s efforts and the education outreach programs at the Straz Center).

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Under Florida Statutes 817.36 Resale of Tickets, which took effect July 1, 2009, it is illegal for any person or entity to offer or resell a ticket to any performance at the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center for more than $1 over this nonprofit institution’s originally assigned price. Substantial penalties are in place for violators. All TBPAC tickets are covered by the statute and contain a notice that they cannot be resold for more than their originally assigned face value. To keep our tickets affordable and accessible, violators will be prosecuted.