Announcing the Rebecca Ryan R2P Youth Development Endowment Fund

Here’s Beckie from our “What is R2P” video featured on our homepage.

Earlier this year, we lost a joyful shining light with the passing of Rebecca “Beckie” (spelled like cookie!) Ryan. Any rehearsal with Beckie was instantly filled with more laughter, mischief, and love. If you were a new kid on your first day, you automatically had a friend in Beckie.

In collaboration with the Ryan family, we are delighted and honored to announce a fund at the Community Foundation of Tompkins County that will help R2P do its work Beckie’s memory. 

In the words of Beckie’s mom Jessica, “The fund is intended to support R2P’s mission to provide youth development through theatre for FREE -- for any kid who wants to pluck up the courage and get on stage AND (drum roll please) offer FREE ADMISSION to all (EVERYONE!!!!) of the R2P performances in the future! This resonates with us so much because Rebecca first enjoyed theatre as an audience member at R2P shows (even seeing [Beckie’s older brother] Gilday as THE GRINCH in Seussical the Musical) and then set her sights on being on stage with so many young people! The fund has been created to guarantee R2P is the safe, engaging, creative haven it is for all kids (and especially kids like Beckie!) and that EVERYONE can attend shows for free and experience the magic of live theatre.”

Gifts can be made via the Community Foundation by clicking here and searching for “r2p” in the “Fund Name” field.

You can learn more about the fund at the Community Foundation’s website.