UTICA - Academy Award-winning actor Adrien Brody has made a major gift to For The Good, Inc. in support of the organization's community service programs such as the Study Buddy Club. This innovative program pairs at risk middle and high school students with high achieving students from Hamilton College and Utica College for a unique blend of tutoring, mentoring and cultural enrichment.

Adrien Brody is one of the leading young actors in film today. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his role in "The Pianist". Brody is to date the youngest person to have won the Oscar in that category. Other recent films starring Mr. Brody include "The Darjeeling Limited" and Peter Jackson's "King Kong". His next film "Brothers Bloom" is scheduled to be released in the Fall of 2008.

In making his gift, Mr. Brody stated "For The Good provides programs
and services that I thoroughly support, reaching young people and
adults in need of helping hands to ensure that they do not fall through the cracks in our society. One such program is the Study Buddy Club. The program's use in gang prevention has proven to be effective with the students that participate in this program.

Whenever you can provide a critical mass of young people in an
educational support program, you create a comfort level in which they
can develop and prosper in a positive and safe environment."

The announcement was made today by Cassandra Harris-Lockwood,
President and CEO of For The Good, Inc. who thanked Mr. Brody by
saying, "Adrien Brody, I send to you my deepest gratitude, although
there is no way to fully express my thanks for your generosity and
compassion. Perhaps word of your philanthropy will move other men and women of means, who possess your level of conscience and purpose, to support the new paradigm of community development. Thank you again for recognizing the work we do here at For The Good, Inc."

Mr. Brody goes on to say "This summer's production, "The Wonderful
Wizard of Was", will be a great opportunity for nearly 100 young people and adults to create a fun show, while learning valuable skills in acting, dancing and singing, as well as the many technical skills required by live theatre in set design and construction, lighting, sound and direction. I am pleased to be able to help realize the possibilities and the revival of the Theatre Arts Program for the greater Utica community."

Written by Cassandra Harris-Lockwood and produced several times in
the mid 90's, "The Wizard of Was", is a parody of Frank Baum's
children's classic and features the best songs from "The Wiz" and
"The Wizard of Oz". The musical tells the story of young Utican,
Dorothy, who prefers to be called DJ, longing to rid her neighborhood
of drugs and violence and restore life to the way it "Was."

With an urban theme of challenge in the streets, The Tornado is Corn
Hill, Utica's ghetto. The villain is the Wicked Witch of West Street
who wants to grab DJ's "magic cap of red" to go with her own ruby
slippers. DJ and her friends, the Scarecrow, the Tinman and the
Cowardly Lioness, find that working together from their inner most
selves is the answer to their problems.

Doris Yager, originator of the locally famed Rhythmlites, joins Producer, Harris-Lockwood, as associate producer, bringing with her years of producing, directing and choreographic experience.

Outstanding local actor, singer and dancer T.K. Howard, who
originated the role of the Mohawk Medicine Man, will direct the show.

Hamilton College professor of Music, Dr. Michael Woods, with hundreds
of musicals under his belt, is the musical director.

More than 100 area kids, teens and adults will be utilized to re-capture the pride and excitement generated when the production was originally staged. The production met with rave reviews then, and with an updated script, top professional staff, enhanced music, choreography and the chance to perform at the nationally renown Stanley Theatre, this is an unparalleled opportunity for the community.

Auditions begin June 30 and rehearsals run throughout the summer.

For The Good, an independent non-profit agency with headquarters in
Corn Hill, fosters community development in the city of Utica; and, in particular, positive youth development, life skills, employment, wellness, culture, the arts and education with special emphasis on peace and justice and the city's low-income residents and their neighborhoods.

For The Good publishes the independent monthly newsmagazine The Utica Phoenix, distributed free in markets in the greater Utica area and
Oneida and Herkimer Counties. In addition, For The Good sponsors The
King of Kings Basketball League, an anti-gang violence intergenerational league for both women and men that engages hundreds of community residents as spectators as well as ball players, halftime performers and vendors throughout the summer. FTG also runs the Mohawk Valley Contractors' Guild.

Cassandra Harris-Lockwood, President and CEO of For The Good stated, "With the wonderful new Stanley Center for the Arts we have an unparalleled showcase for our local community as well as the finest
in professional talent. It seemed to be the right moment for re-instituting a Theatre Arts Program which will develop in the residents of our community the skills needed for presenting quality productions, and supporting the work of the Stanley, the Turning Stone, the Glimmerglass Opera and other creative arts festivals in central New York. Mr. Brody's generous gift couldn't have come at a better time."