To: Cadets Fans, Friends and Alumni
From: George Hopkins
Re: Your HOLY NAME CADETS

Look at those patches! Here we are four contests into the 2009 Anniversary Season and the Holy Name Cadets are tearing down the house.  In Dublin, OH, the Cadets “turned on” what I am sure will be the first of many great performances.  Folks were on their feet on three different occasions! 

This anniversary year of 2009 has been more than good and the potential for great performances from the Holy Name Cadets and thrills for audience members from city to city grows with each rehearsal.  We have great kids … a great staff …. Moreover, the ton of hard work already equals success!

I am writing to ask you, one last time (for now) to donate to the Annual Campaign! Our goal is 1000 donors and we have only 300 more to go.  What a historic and important year to come on board and be a part of the team.  My personal note to the Alumni we really need you!!  We want you to be the primary supporters of this magnificent group of young people representing everything you were and all you are today!  We want you to continue your involvement.  Heck, you were there for the most unique and amazing run in the history of marching music!

Please help us continue our work for years to come…

Please give back to the Cadets so that we can continue to give to the extraordinary young people...

Please … it might be only $34.00; or only $75.00 … and yes, it MIGHT be more, but please give something from your heart.  Just so you can see your name.  Just so you can be a part of the 2009 family.  Just so the kids today, and for years to come, can feel the joy that comes from being a Cadet.

Here is a letter from a Dad. The gentleman had a daughter in the corps and he continues to be a part of our volunteer team today. He is a fabulous human being … and here is an excerpt of what he sent to me just yesterday…

… I know that I have said this before, but the amazing stuff is what you and your staff are able to accomplish year after year.  In 1995, you planted a dream in the heart of a 10-year-old little girl to someday with The Cadets.  For the next 9 years, she worked and practiced playing in the school bands and marching summers with other corps always keeping alive her dream of being a Cadet. 

 I know you have probably experienced this many times, but I was fortunate enough to be at camp the first time Melanie tried on her Cadets uniform.  She came out of the dressing room to show me and she had a smile on her face like I had never seen before.  It was a smile that said to me “I made it Dad.  I am a Cadet.”  She ran up to me, stood on her toes, put her arms around my neck and smiling through the tears of joy she said, “Thank you Dad, thank you so much!”  Even though it lasted less than 60 seconds, that is one minute of my life I will never forget.  I only hope that my contribution to the corps can help, in some small way, just one other parent to have a moment with their daughter or son like that one was for me.

My dear friends, you must know someone who felt like that one day. Perhaps you felt this way. And if I may …. How can you not come on board in this year of celebrating the 75th Anniversary?

Your donations go directly to the Cadets. The Cadets lose $200,000 per year as the costs of transportation have gone through the roof. Even now, we need new trucks and vans. At a time when other national organizations are faltering, Youth Education in the Arts and the Cadets are alive because we play it “tight to the vest”.  Our staff works incredibly hard, we borrow, we save, and … we have the greatest giving organization in the drum corps world.

Be a part of the Maroon and Gold!  Please go to http://donate.cadets.org today and make a gift. You can pledge over a year, you can pay per month, or you can put it on a credit card.

This 75th year may very well go down with the greatest of all time!  Be a part of it! 
FHNSAB
Hop