Bright, dazzling lights filling the room. Vivid brilliant colors draping every inch. Aerial artists dropping from the Great Court ceiling. Jugglers walking around performing. A dazzling array of other performances will highlight Child and Adolescent Behavioral Health’s (C&A) 15th annual Let Your Light Shine (LYLS) fundraiser on April 4, with all proceeds benefiting the agency. This year’s theme is Cirque de Lumiere.
This year’s event will feature new twists to the traditional event. Previous LYLS events had a casino or gaming table theme. This year’s one-of-a-kind unique event will feature a spectacular cirque performance from Down To Earth Aerials, a Raleigh-based theatrical cirque company. Down to Earth Aerials is a well-known cirque troupe performing all over Virginia and North Carolina including The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, The North Carolina State Fair, North Carolina Museum of History, KFC Canada and Watkins Glen International Speedway.
Dazzling cirque performances will include a stilt walker, jugglers, a contortionist, aerialists and a cyr wheel artist. This amazing, vibrant, colorful performance promises to leave those in attendance in awe. Floor performances will take place all evening before the main performance.
2020 marks 15 anniversary of this inspiring event spotlighting the services C&A is able to provide children ages 0 to 24 who are experiencing behavioral and emotional mental health issues. On Feb. 20, C&A honored our past chairpersons of this event which spotlights our children and programming that enables youth and adolescents the chance at health, hope and happiness. The first chairperson and originator of this event was Nancy Pryce. Pryce started this event to raise awareness and funds for C&A’s services. The initial LYLS had a unique concept of hanging a wooden painted rainbow on the side of the Central Trust building at the corner of Market Avenue North and Tuscarawas Street.
On the rainbow were numbered light bulbs. The last light bulb to burn out was the grand prize winner. Unfortunately, a light bulb can burn for a year or longer, so the display came down after a couple of months. Other past chairpersons include Robin Clark, Holly Davies, Lisa Warburton Gregory, Stephanie Green, Danielle Higgins, Ann McCabe, Dr. Michael McCabe, Melissa Pitinii, Karen Smetana, Mark Spano, Tim Voros and Derek Williams. This year’s chair is Monica Gwin.
C&A will have the traditional live and silent auction. Some enticing and unique auction items include a one-week trip to Cancun, Cleveland Whiskey Tour and Tasting for 25 people, Country Fest basket (includes two tickets), Tickets to a Cirque performance in Cleveland with a hotel stay, a Calloway Driver and Stand Bag and Down To Earth Aerials is donating a cirque performance to one lucky winner.
New to this year’s event is a Grand Raffle $2,500 Money Tree, where the winner needs not be present to win. A limited number of $25 tickets are for sale from committee members. Raffle tickets may be purchased on our LYLS shine page.
No donation is too small. Young professionals and community members can make a small donation which appears to be a small act but this will have a big impact. Community members can make a token donation of $1, $5 or $10 through PayPal, which will have a significant impact on services and programming C&A is able to provide to more than 4,400 children each year.
Tickets are currently on sale by clicking on this link - https://childandadolescent.org/let-your-light-shine-2020-cirque-de-lumiere/ If you have any questions, please call Melissa Coultas at 330-454-7917, ext. 117 or email mcoultas@childandadolescent.org.
C&A opened its doors in late June, 1976. Learn about our wonderful history and how the agency has expanded its programs, services and locations throughout Stark County.