Marin Center is Marin County’s primary performing arts and convention center. It encompasses the Veterans’ Memorial Auditorium, the Showcase Theater and Exhibit Hall, the Fairgrounds and Lagoon Park.Friends of Marin Center, a non-profit corporation, consists of members dedicated to supporting Marin Center by increasing community awareness and use of this resource, and by undertaking fundraising for projects that enhance the Center’s facilities and programming.
9/2/97
Our organization's mission today is essentially twofold, as I'll now cover. By the way, note that we raise funds to support these goals through individual and corporate donations, annual memberships, and special events, such as our February 2000 Boys Choir of Harlem Fund-raiser event. Our first goal is attained through our Community Outreach program, where we essentially purchase tickets to events, which are not sold out, typically a week or two before a performance. Whenever possible, we purchase tickets at a bulk or discounted rate from the Marin Center's box office. We donate these tickets to low-income and disadvantaged residents of Marin County who would otherwise not be able to afford to attend the performances at the Marin Center. The distribution of these Community Outreach tickets occurs through our pre-arranged network of Marin County social agencies. The second goal of Friends of Marin Center is to maintain Marin Center facilities, augmenting the county's budgetary limits to do so. We are an excellent example of how well private and public sector partnerships can work.
Through the FOMC efforts last season, we have contributed in excess of $60,000.00 for improvements to the Center. These funds were used for projects such as the total renovation of the Hospitality Room in the Exhibit Hall and the Showcase Theater foyer recarpeting project. In addition, a portion of funding was used for the technology needed to bring the Marin Center onto the Internet, thus enabling the Center users to purchase tickets for performances and events at the Center.
