PCYC is a community-based nonprofit with a 70-year history of delivering exceptional education, arts and youth programming to children, families and the Northside community.
The agency manages three dynamic programs including its flagship, the Capri, PYC Arts & Technology High School and Bright Futures K-5 Enrichment.
On April 16, PCYC/The Capri launched a special $1.5 million fundraising campaign to address immediate financial concerns and ensure operational sustainability moving forward. Details of the campaign are articulated in the letter below:
Dear friends of PCYC and the Capri,
We’re writing to you today with an emphatic request for your support and financial assistance.
Like hundreds of other organizations and businesses in our city and across the country, we have experienced an unprecedented set of circumstances over the last four years that has challenged our financial stability.
During this time, PCYC chose to stay open, serving our scholars, families and community through PYC Arts & Technology High School and our Bright Futures K-5 Enrichment program. We chose to boldly move forward and complete construction of the Capri as well.
These choices coincided with the pandemic and ensuing societal challenges that no one could have predicted. As a result, even with PPP loans and positive responses to various aspects of our programming, PCYC had to tap deeply into its financial reserves. Those reserves are now nearly depleted.
We’ve worked diligently over the last several months to review and reduce expenses in all areas of PCYC operations. We’ve created a new strategic plan that provides clear direction and smart, strong organizational goals. We’ve also created a plan to address our most immediate financial concerns.
That plan is centered on a fundraising campaign to raise $1.5 million dollars by July 1 in order to move forward with a solid financial foundation. We are wholeheartedly devoted to creating the best possible outcomes for our community, and we can’t do it without you.
How can you support the Capri/PCYC today?
*Stand Together with the Capri and PCYC and contribute now. There is no gift too small or too large. $5, $50, $100, $1 million… every contribution counts.
*Spread the word. Talk with others you know who might be interested and willing to support us. Provide people with your insights and link to our fundraising page at pcyc-mpls.org.
*If you’re a “social” person, go to our Facebook and Instagram pages and our PCYC Facebook page and like, share and tag our posts. We encourage you to use your social pages to tell your own stories about PCYC and the historic Capri.
*Host your events and partner with us. Co-create customized programming at the Capri to help fund our
alternative high school and K-5 programs.
*Be @ the Capri! Your presence matters, now more than ever. Bring friends and neighbors to First Thursday Films, Legends, the Minneapolis St. Paul International Film Festival @ the Capri, SPCO’s Northside Series @ the Capri, and more.
PCYC, and its flagship, the Capri, have a proven record of excellence in programming and commitment to our community. Please stand with us now to hold and sustain this Northside economic engine, and its vibrant artistic and educational vision, for years to come.
Thank you for your donations and encouragement as we move through this time together. We are most grateful.
Sincerely,
PCYC Executive Director Melissa Denton, PCYC Board Chair Karen Polzin, and the entire staff and board