Our big Superman screening has finally happened and made for an amazing afternoon at the movies. Check out some pics from the event!

Pretty crazy to think James Gunn’s Superman was meant to herald our return from hiatus. But thanks to the support we’ve gotten over the last couple months, it has ended up being our FOURTH event of the year! That means 200-300 kids have been able to enjoy a night at the movies, which is unbelievably amazing.

Because it was meant to be our first event, Superman has obviously been a big focus of our fundraising efforts. As such, it does feel like a major milestone to have finally gotten this one done.

For this event, we rented out a theater at the AMC Grapevine (who were super helpful in preparing meal-packs for the kids and even giving us some extra time to get started). We brought in a couple different groups this time around, with kids from the Jonathan’s Place organization, and the Grapevine PD Community Outreach. Without diving into their business too much, suffice it to say, these are exactly the kids who need this type of escape. They’re dealing with all manner of things that are difficult for even adults to cope with. So being able to provide them with a chance to simply enjoy a movie and forget the world, is amazing.

Also, because of this, we decided to prioritize getting them meals over the normal toys/goodies we would bring. So we bumped up our concession gift cards on top of providing snack-packs. This way we could make sure they had a solid lunch and still get whatever candy/snacks they wanted to go with it. Because really, what’s a movie theater experience without a snack!

Thanks to the Warner Bros. team, however, the kids were not empty handed. They sent us a whole bunch of Superman posters and fans that we were able to hand out. They were THRILLED with them. I actually overheard one child (around 10-sh) say to one of the attending social workers that they were going to hang their poster up so they could remember the “first time I went to a real movie.”

That’s why we do this. And from chatting with some of the other chaperones/guardians I can tell you that kid is one among many first-timers when it comes to the actual theater experience.

The film itself was a blast, and the kids had a ton of fun with it. Listening to them ‘ooh’ and ‘ahh’ when they first see Superman fly makes for an unforgettable screening for me!

While Superman was definitely the big focus of our push during initial fundraising/marketing, it’s important to remember that’s not all our current fundraiser is about. Rather, it’s to ensure our ability to host numerous events throughout the year without having to do individual fundraising for each one. So if you’re still intent on helping us, don’t think you missed the chance.

We’re still about a third away from our main goal, and are already hard at work putting together a Fantastic Four: First Steps screening as well! So keep the shares, and donations, coming out way.

Until the next film…