Andréa Rizzo had a love of life that was felt by all who knew her. She was a loving daughter, only child, compassionate friend, dedicated Special Education teacher, gifted dancer and childhood cancer survivor. She was attending graduate school at NYU in hopes of becoming a dance therapist so that she could share her love of dance and its positive impact on her life with the lives of fragile children. She herself had been treated and cured of cancer as a very young child at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York. On May 19, 2002, Dréa’s life was cut short by a drunk driver as she returned home from attending a dance performance, but her passion for children and dance live on. With determination from family and friends Drea’s Dream is being fulfilled! Thank you, Dréa, for having such a wonderful vision! Andréa loved life, family, friends, children and dance! Since Andrea Rizzo’s passing, her mother Susan Rizzo decided to start a foundation based on her daughters dream and entitled the program of the foundation: Drea’s Dream. A mission statement is the “stated purpose of the nonprofit organization, is a carefully crafted definition of its long-term focus and scope. Properly done, the statement provides the basis for setting objectives and all the strategic planning that follows” (Gomes, Knowles, Wymer, p. 27, 2006). Drea’s Dream’s mission is: The Andréa Rizzo Foundation will raise funds to help children with cancer and special needs, fostering Andréa’s dreams of providing dance therapy to children with cancer and special education needs. …show more content…
A non-profit corporation, the Foundation is dedicated to the growth and success of Dréa’s Dream, a dance therapy/expressive movement program for pediatric and young adult populations in hospitals, special education classrooms and medical settings throughout the country. The Andréa Rizzo Foundation is the only 501(c)(3) non profit organization in the United States that provides grants that directly fund dance/movement therapy programming exclusively for children with cancer and special needs. Programs are led by registered Dance/Movement Therapists (R-DMT and BC-DMT). In addition, the Foundation funds expressive movement programs for the same pediatric population under the direction of dance professionals of the highest caliber.
Although the mission statement partially follows the guideline and definition of a good mission statement, it does not set the objectives of the organization. The mission statement for Drea’s Dream is also longer than it should be in order to get its point across. Instead of the long statement above, this is the recommended mission statement for use in the future: As the only 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that provides grants funding dance movement therapy programs, The Andréa Rizzo Foundation raises …show more content…
It is a unique way of combining DANCE and COMPASSION to help children with cancer and special needs. All dancers will have a chance to make a difference in the lives of fragile children by simply holding a benefit performance OR collecting pledges for as many or as few hours of dance as they would like. Be creative! Hold any kind of meaningful dance event that you’d