My Passion

For those of you who don’t know me, my name is Tino Laterza and I am the founder of Arts into Action. I started this organization last semester as part of my entrepreneurship class and now have continued to bloom into a full-fledged organization. With the help of a few teammates, we have built an organization that could really do something for so many people. There are 800 people in Syracuse alone that suffer from hunger and homelessness alone. The number of people in poverty continues to increase every year with more people losing their jobs and their homes and they are not able to provide for themselves or their families.

I have always been a positive guy. It is very hard for a person to realize how much power positivity has on another person. It is contagious and once started it causes a chain reaction and it spreads like fire. The arts have also always been a huge part of who I am, and I know first-hand how the arts can speak to people. Whether it be singing, acting, dancing, visual art, or instrumental art, it helps people get through some of the hardest times in their lives. There are so many people who are put in such negative situations, and most of the time for reasons beyond their control.

Wouldn’t it just be amazing if we could use the various different arts to raise their spirits. Maybe it provides them with a short getaway while they listen to a song, or dance around, or look at the colors and patterns of a painting in front of them. I’ve lived in Syracuse for almost two years now and I’ve learned that it is such a beautiful city. Why can’t we help these people get to a better state of mind and experience the positivity that the arts bring? How can we be proactive and no longer ignore those people in negative situations? How can we put the Arts into Action?

Hence, our organization was born. By partnering with different organizations involved in the arts and in giving back to the community we will collaborate to help those in need. Some of the events we will be having include periodic trips to the soup kitchen to volunteer as servers and offer a playlist of songs to be performed by our singers who will engage with the crowd. We will be producing plays that will show awareness of current issues and help to raise our capital to be able to organize other events such as Holiday gifts for the homeless children and disadvantaged women, making gift baskets, or bringing hot meals and blankets to homeless men and women. This is along with plenty of other ideas still yet to come!

Arts into Action is an organization that every city needs and deserves to have. Every city is beautiful in its own way and we want to embrace those unique qualities and make sure that every person is able to have clean water, a hot meal, and roof above their head. No person ever deserves anything less. We need your help to be able to do this because we are all stronger together. Together we can lift each other up. By using the arts and community service, we will empower people to come together and build a safer, brighter, and more positive community.