Ten Thousand Things Theater Company

Haddox Legacy Gift Funds Artistic Core

A legacy gift will allow Ten Thousand Things (TTT) in Minneapolis, Minnesota, to establish The Melanie Haddox Artist Core Fund.

Haddox died this past summer, leaving $100,000 to TTT. With the blessings of her family, the theater will invest the gift in its Artist Core, a diverse and opinionated group of 16 experienced actors who conceive creative projects that will help deepen and strengthen the theater's relationships with its many nontraditional audiences.

Her family and friends describe Haddox as kind, selfless, genuine, and witty. Her sister Janet Grones called her a person who “used her gift of life with a sense of adventure and enthusiasm. There was always something new and interesting right around the corner that had to be investigated and enjoyed.”

Haddox contributed to many charitable and nonprofit organizations during her lifetime, and now has made legacy gifts to TTT as well as to St. Stephen's Human Services to support a shelter fund for homeless women in their 50s and 60s, and to Penumbra Theatre to support student scholarships to that company's summer artist institute.

Approximately $80,000 of the Haddox bequest to TTT will go to the Artist Core, with the other $20,000 placed in the reserve fund to help TTT take creative risks. Both the Artist Core work and a reserve fund are key to the organization's health and impact.

December 20, 2016

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