December Giveback Recipient – Dallas Children’s Theater
Our December 2023 First Sunday Giveback recipient is Dallas Children’s Theater. The mission of Dallas Children’s Theater is to inspire young people to creative and productive lives through the art of theater.
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A personal message from First Church Member Patty Bates-Ballard
This is my son, Kory.
Kory’s spirit left his body 4 years ago, and yet I still feel his spirit very alive in my heart. If you remember Kory, you know that even with having a stroke, seizures, and Down syndrome, he was one of the happiest people on earth. He could get pretty loud expressing his joy, but he didn’t understand “inside voice ” or “be quiet” or even “shhhh.” While Kory could be quite loud, ironically, he didn’t tolerate loud noises from others very well.
I can remember taking Kory to the Nutcracker in a large auditorium. It was a day they specially invited children with special needs, but there were no modifications to the performance. We made it about halfway through, but the performance was too loud. Kory started crying and I had to take him out. After some loud school auditorium experiences, Kory got to the point that if I just rolled him into an auditorium, even an empty one, he would start to cry.
So, except for Kaden’s sports games, there were not many places in the community we could go to together as a family. Kory used to go to the nursery here at church. But when his seizures worsened, I tried bringing him with me into the sanctuary so I could monitor him, but it was a no-go. So, we sadly stopped going to church. For years we just didn’t go many places at all, to tell the truth. And Kory and his brother Kaden, who is typically developing, missed out on, and really were excluded from, a lot of the activities that help children develop into healthy adults. Isolation is a serious problem for families like ours.
But then, in 2014, Dallas Children’s Theater created sensory friendly performances and drama classes. Loud noises and harsh lights were softened. Pre-show activities were adapted. Staff and volunteers were specially trained to understand autism and other developmental differences. At the first sensory friendly performance in March, Kory wore his headphones, he fidgeted a lot, and he was just kind of a mess. And that was just fine with everyone because their mission was to make us feel welcome, and that was awesome because Kory made it through an hour and a half in an auditorium. We kept coming back, and at the third show in October, Kory watched the full performance intently without headphones, and he didn’t fidget. You have no idea what an amazing accomplishment that was for Kory and what a blessing it was for our whole family.
Well, we tried going back to church because all of the sudden Kory was able to sit in an auditorium comfortably. And he made it through church. So, we went back to being church regulars. Kaden went to his class and Kory was my church buddy. Kory passed on New Years Eve 2019, just before Covid hit. It took me a long time to get back out into the world. The first place I came was here. The second place was Dallas Children’s Theater.
Over the years, more than 15,000 children like Kory and their family members have benefitted from the Sensory-Friendly Program. Today, you can honor Kory by giving back to this program that made such a difference in his life and the lives of so many others. If you know a family with a child with special needs, tell them about Dallas Children’s Theater. Or, you can volunteer. However you can support this program, your support will have an impact. Thank you.
First Sunday Giveback has been proudly funding area not-for-profits since 2006. 100% of each First Sunday plate collection is given to a worthy nonprofit making a difference, as well as 50% of the month’s remaining collections.
