Sheltered Reality

Hello to all of our fans out there! This (for once) is not Steve Schlosser writing the article for our newsletter, but it is his assistant Jordan Fratt. I have been asked to write this article for many different reasons, but the main motive is for me to tell my story since I have decided to take on SR full-time. So many things have happened, and many thrilling events have occurred…but let me start from the top, for those who do not know.

I started taking drum lessons from Steve Schlosser (Executive Director) when I was 6 years old. Sheltered Reality started when I was about 8 years old, and I have been participating ever since. Being the longest running member of the group has given me the opportunity to see a timeline of such great changes take place. I have not only seen the group change, but the members of the group change in their hearts also.

Many years later (10 actually), SR has taken over my life. I just graduated from High School in Burlington, IA this year, and decided to go with Sheltered Reality full-time. It took a lot of pondering and praying to make sure this is what was right, but I always felt it in my heart that this was the way to go.

One thing that really helped me make my decision was that when I was young, the two things I wanted to grow up to be was either a teacher or a performer on a stage. I thought the two could never go together, and I was not sure which one I wanted to be more. I kept thinking of different teaching options I had, and different performing options, until I discovered that SR covered both. I realized that SR would include teaching drum lessons (which I have done for a while now) and performing at many different places and stages. This really proved God’s power to me…showing how years ago, when I was young, I came up with two main things I wanted to be…two things that usually don’t go together…and He fused them together making the two things I wanted to be the one thing I am right now.

I started full-time on June 12^th, and it has been 4 months, and things are going great. It is great traveling, seeing new places, meeting new faces, and doing what I love. Life on the road is difficult some days, whether it be driving from 6 a.m until 11 p.m. in ghastly weather, flying across multiple states in turbulent conditions, or being in all 4 time zones all in the same day. But the feedback we get from our fans makes it all worth the time.

God has blessed me through all of my life, and has provided such an awesome work opportunity…not only for me to survive, but for me to spread His message, and His love to those who see us perform at shows, and to those in the group who may not know Him, but really do need Him. I pray that God will continue to bless each and every one of you.

I hope that gives you a small taste of what has brought me to the point of where I am now. I do want to say a special thanks to my family…you have been a great support to me during this drastic change in my life, and I love you so much! Also, thanks out to my church family back home in Burlington, IA, and to my SR Family. Your support and love has been great.

And, of course, thanks to all of our fans, who support us, and keep us going. We appreciate your support.

God Bless,
Jordan

(back to top)

Mission Beat

Many people who hear Sheltered Reality's message assume that in order to change this world, we have to do something huge, dramatic, and very time consuming. Well, they're wrong. With the world stuck on overdrive, it may seem hard to find time to enjoy even the smallest of things. Sheltered Reality has come up with many different projects that can change someone's life, without having to change yours.

Project Eric:

For this project, we collect stuffed animals for homeless children, tie the story of how this project was started, and deliver them to shelters across the country.

Snack Pack Project:

This project originated in Omaha, NE, where at schools across the city, the majority of children have nothing to eat on the weekends. Menu items are strict and must follow the list exactly. To get the list of the food needed, contact whitneykamish@msn.com. The cost to feed one child, each weekend for 10 months is $500.

Back Pack Project:

As many of you (who have kids or are kids) know, school supplies often run out before the school year hardly starts. For homeless children, they can not go run to Wal-Mart to buy the needed supplies. Many organizations collect school supplies during the summer for the upcoming school year. We also do this, but keep it an ongoing project so that when children fall short of supplies, we will always have them available. Just collect any school supplies that are normally needed and put them in a back pack to give to Sheltered Reality.

24 hour collection project:

This project is probably the simplest of all. Write down what you use in a 24-hour period. Then collect it and put it in a box to deliver to a shelter. Include things such as towels, soap, deodorant, toothbrush, comb, socks, etc.

The Rest of the Story
Any of you that have seen a show within the last 12 months are familiar with the story of Nicholas, whom we met at the interfaith block party down here in Kansas. A homeless and autistic boy, Nicholas realized he can make in a difference in others' lives. He became our story of the year, and you’re probably thinking “Yeah, we know. This was in your last newsletter.”

For all of you Paul Harvey fans out there—now you get ‘The Rest of the Story’.

We went back to Interfaith this June, for a similar [but considerably longer] show. Nicholas and his family were there, unaware that they were to be the focus of our hour that night. Not only did they learn that Nicholas' story had been told all over the Midwest for the past year, but Nicholas himself helped present a check to Interfaith Ministries for $1,000, part of the money raised at Mt. Rushmore last spring.

Awesome, right? We thought so, too.

A Night in the Cold
On October 28th, members of Sheltered Reality across the nation will spend 24 hours in a local park or on a local church lawn raising awareness of homelessness across the United States.

It's part of the national "Make a Difference Day"… and we’re aiming for a homerun. Kids, parents and site leaders alike will shed their makeup, leave their cell phones and car keys at home and grab a cardboard box for one day - a move that will hopefully draw some attention to Sheltered Reality, and in turn, the plight of homelessness in the U.S.

We will be accepting donations at this time to allow us to buy more Eric monkeys, as we currently have none left anywhere, at any Sheltered Reality site. Our Erics will then be sold at our shows for $20 - $10 of which will go to other organizations who help improve the lives of those less fortunate.

Want more information? Email me, lexie@sheltered-reality.org [don't worry, you won’t get an auto-reply] and I’ll get you pointed in the right direction.

If nothing else, come visit us on October 28^th. We’ll be there with our cardboard boxes!

And now on to Sheltered Reality's mission work. In our shows, we encourage others to go out and make a difference in their community. But when the drums are torn down, and curtains are closed, the members of Sheltered Reality are making a difference in their own communities. Each newsletter, we will focus on one SR site. And the winner is….. Minneapolis/St. Paul!

This year, the Minneapolis/St. Paul group has assisted in numerous projects including:

03/10/2006 St. Philips Lutheran Church Hastings, MN - Donated 696 diapers for diaper drive

04/20/2006 Omaha Snack Pack Mission Project - $70.00 cash donated + personal care products: shampoo, conditioner, soap, deodorant and lotion

04/2006 Cheerful Givers - St. Paul, MN Webster Magnet Elem. School(Brianna Peterson already did summary of this) 1112 birthday bags made for needy children

06/05/2006 People Serving People Inc. Minneapolis, MN - 626 diapers, 96 stuffed animals, 143 beanie babies donated

08/18/2006 Feed My Starving Children Eagan, MN - Helped assemble 9072 meals to send to starving children all over the world

08/24/2006 West Side Boys and Girls Club of St. Paul, MN - SR kids taught drum lessons as a carnival game at their carnival, donated 109 beanie babies to be given as carnival prizes, donated school supplies totaling about $75.00

08/28/2006 People Serving People shelter in Minneapolis, MN - 216 stuffed animals were delivered to the shelter

(back to top)

Editors' Beat

From your Iowa Co-Editor:

Hey everyone!! Time has flown by and it is once again time for another edition of our Sheltered Reality Newsletter! Thanks to all who sent positive feedback to Lexie and myself; we look forward to continuing our updates. Sheltered Reality has had tremendous growth in the last few months, and with that comes many new and exciting changes. With the continued support of our loyal fans and SR families, we will continue to develop into an even more dynamic organization. We hope you enjoy the newsletter, and if you ever have anything to add to it, we would be glad to throw it in for you. I hope everyone has a fabulous fall, and I look forward to hearing from you in the future.

Whitney

From your Kansan co-editor:

Hello again! Let me just start out with a sincere Thank you for all the positive feedback about our last newsletter. It was great to hear from you all! The time has absolutely flown by! I can’t believe school has started consuming my life yet again. I am literally lying on the floor of my English class writing to you all right now. I’m not entirely sure what you all expect out of this part of the newsletter. So I’m going to go with a thought that’s been on my mind lately. I got a fortune the other day that said “learn something from everyone you meet.” It may seem kind of simple, or stupid, but I found the thought refreshing; that I have the potential to learn something new with every one I meet. So I’ve been trying my best, but it’s harder than it seems. I hope you all will at least take a second to think on that, even if you don’t put it into direct action. And I guess that’s my little blurb for this quarter.

Lexie

[you should email me. I love meeting people]
lexie@sheltered-reality.org

The highly anticipated 10 year Anniversary Sheltered Reality CD is now out!! You can now listen to the First Decade of Sheltered Reality, from our early days' vocal songs, to a new song performed at Mount Rushmore. You can also pop the CD into your computer and watch two live performances of SR. One is of Everdream, from about 3 years ago, the other is Surrender, performed on Easter morning at Mount Rushmore with 84 drummers from 6 different states.

The first Sheltered Reality DVD is available as well. It was filmed at Mount Rushmore, during our first ever Easter morning sunrise service. These are available for $15. Please fill out and mail this order form.

(back to top)

	We Got the Beat... Sheltered Reality Fall 2006
Contents: Board Beat Mission Beat Editors' Beat Show Beat	Board Beat Hello to all of our fans out there! This (for once) is not Steve Schlosser writing the article for our newsletter, but it is his assistant Jordan Fratt. I have been asked to write this article for many different reasons, but the main motive is for me to tell my story since I have decided to take on SR full-time. So many things have happened, and many thrilling events have occurred…but let me start from the top, for those who do not know. I started taking drum lessons from Steve Schlosser (Executive Director) when I was 6 years old. Sheltered Reality started when I was about 8 years old, and I have been participating ever since. Being the longest running member of the group has given me the opportunity to see a timeline of such great changes take place. I have not only seen the group change, but the members of the group change in their hearts also. Many years later (10 actually), SR has taken over my life. I just graduated from High School in Burlington, IA this year, and decided to go with Sheltered Reality full-time. It took a lot of pondering and praying to make sure this is what was right, but I always felt it in my heart that this was the way to go. One thing that really helped me make my decision was that when I was young, the two things I wanted to grow up to be was either a teacher or a performer on a stage. I thought the two could never go together, and I was not sure which one I wanted to be more. I kept thinking of different teaching options I had, and different performing options, until I discovered that SR covered both. I realized that SR would include teaching drum lessons (which I have done for a while now) and performing at many different places and stages. This really proved God’s power to me…showing how years ago, when I was young, I came up with two main things I wanted to be…two things that usually don’t go together…and He fused them together making the two things I wanted to be the one thing I am right now. I started full-time on June 12^th, and it has been 4 months, and things are going great. It is great traveling, seeing new places, meeting new faces, and doing what I love. Life on the road is difficult some days, whether it be driving from 6 a.m until 11 p.m. in ghastly weather, flying across multiple states in turbulent conditions, or being in all 4 time zones all in the same day. But the feedback we get from our fans makes it all worth the time. God has blessed me through all of my life, and has provided such an awesome work opportunity…not only for me to survive, but for me to spread His message, and His love to those who see us perform at shows, and to those in the group who may not know Him, but really do need Him. I pray that God will continue to bless each and every one of you. I hope that gives you a small taste of what has brought me to the point of where I am now. I do want to say a special thanks to my family…you have been a great support to me during this drastic change in my life, and I love you so much! Also, thanks out to my church family back home in Burlington, IA, and to my SR Family. Your support and love has been great. And, of course, thanks to all of our fans, who support us, and keep us going. We appreciate your support. God Bless, Jordan (back to top) Mission Beat Many people who hear Sheltered Reality's message assume that in order to change this world, we have to do something huge, dramatic, and very time consuming. Well, they're wrong. With the world stuck on overdrive, it may seem hard to find time to enjoy even the smallest of things. Sheltered Reality has come up with many different projects that can change someone's life, without having to change yours. Project Eric: For this project, we collect stuffed animals for homeless children, tie the story of how this project was started, and deliver them to shelters across the country. Snack Pack Project: This project originated in Omaha, NE, where at schools across the city, the majority of children have nothing to eat on the weekends. Menu items are strict and must follow the list exactly. To get the list of the food needed, contact whitneykamish@msn.com. The cost to feed one child, each weekend for 10 months is $500. Back Pack Project: As many of you (who have kids or are kids) know, school supplies often run out before the school year hardly starts. For homeless children, they can not go run to Wal-Mart to buy the needed supplies. Many organizations collect school supplies during the summer for the upcoming school year. We also do this, but keep it an ongoing project so that when children fall short of supplies, we will always have them available. Just collect any school supplies that are normally needed and put them in a back pack to give to Sheltered Reality. 24 hour collection project: This project is probably the simplest of all. Write down what you use in a 24-hour period. Then collect it and put it in a box to deliver to a shelter. Include things such as towels, soap, deodorant, toothbrush, comb, socks, etc. The Rest of the Story Any of you that have seen a show within the last 12 months are familiar with the story of Nicholas, whom we met at the interfaith block party down here in Kansas. A homeless and autistic boy, Nicholas realized he can make in a difference in others' lives. He became our story of the year, and you’re probably thinking “Yeah, we know. This was in your last newsletter.” For all of you Paul Harvey fans out there—now you get ‘The Rest of the Story’. We went back to Interfaith this June, for a similar [but considerably longer] show. Nicholas and his family were there, unaware that they were to be the focus of our hour that night. Not only did they learn that Nicholas' story had been told all over the Midwest for the past year, but Nicholas himself helped present a check to Interfaith Ministries for $1,000, part of the money raised at Mt. Rushmore last spring. Awesome, right? We thought so, too. A Night in the Cold On October 28th, members of Sheltered Reality across the nation will spend 24 hours in a local park or on a local church lawn raising awareness of homelessness across the United States. It's part of the national "Make a Difference Day"… and we’re aiming for a homerun. Kids, parents and site leaders alike will shed their makeup, leave their cell phones and car keys at home and grab a cardboard box for one day - a move that will hopefully draw some attention to Sheltered Reality, and in turn, the plight of homelessness in the U.S. We will be accepting donations at this time to allow us to buy more Eric monkeys, as we currently have none left anywhere, at any Sheltered Reality site. Our Erics will then be sold at our shows for $20 - $10 of which will go to other organizations who help improve the lives of those less fortunate. Want more information? Email me, lexie@sheltered-reality.org [don't worry, you won’t get an auto-reply] and I’ll get you pointed in the right direction. If nothing else, come visit us on October 28^th. We’ll be there with our cardboard boxes! And now on to Sheltered Reality's mission work. In our shows, we encourage others to go out and make a difference in their community. But when the drums are torn down, and curtains are closed, the members of Sheltered Reality are making a difference in their own communities. Each newsletter, we will focus on one SR site. And the winner is….. Minneapolis/St. Paul! This year, the Minneapolis/St. Paul group has assisted in numerous projects including: 03/10/2006 St. Philips Lutheran Church Hastings, MN - Donated 696 diapers for diaper drive 04/20/2006 Omaha Snack Pack Mission Project - $70.00 cash donated + personal care products: shampoo, conditioner, soap, deodorant and lotion 04/2006 Cheerful Givers - St. Paul, MN Webster Magnet Elem. School(Brianna Peterson already did summary of this) 1112 birthday bags made for needy children 06/05/2006 People Serving People Inc. Minneapolis, MN - 626 diapers, 96 stuffed animals, 143 beanie babies donated 08/18/2006 Feed My Starving Children Eagan, MN - Helped assemble 9072 meals to send to starving children all over the world 08/24/2006 West Side Boys and Girls Club of St. Paul, MN - SR kids taught drum lessons as a carnival game at their carnival, donated 109 beanie babies to be given as carnival prizes, donated school supplies totaling about $75.00 08/28/2006 People Serving People shelter in Minneapolis, MN - 216 stuffed animals were delivered to the shelter (back to top) Editors' Beat From your Iowa Co-Editor: Hey everyone!! Time has flown by and it is once again time for another edition of our Sheltered Reality Newsletter! Thanks to all who sent positive feedback to Lexie and myself; we look forward to continuing our updates. Sheltered Reality has had tremendous growth in the last few months, and with that comes many new and exciting changes. With the continued support of our loyal fans and SR families, we will continue to develop into an even more dynamic organization. We hope you enjoy the newsletter, and if you ever have anything to add to it, we would be glad to throw it in for you. I hope everyone has a fabulous fall, and I look forward to hearing from you in the future. Whitney From your Kansan co-editor: Hello again! Let me just start out with a sincere Thank you for all the positive feedback about our last newsletter. It was great to hear from you all! The time has absolutely flown by! I can’t believe school has started consuming my life yet again. I am literally lying on the floor of my English class writing to you all right now. I’m not entirely sure what you all expect out of this part of the newsletter. So I’m going to go with a thought that’s been on my mind lately. I got a fortune the other day that said “learn something from everyone you meet.” It may seem kind of simple, or stupid, but I found the thought refreshing; that I have the potential to learn something new with every one I meet. So I’ve been trying my best, but it’s harder than it seems. I hope you all will at least take a second to think on that, even if you don’t put it into direct action. And I guess that’s my little blurb for this quarter. Lexie [you should email me. I love meeting people] lexie@sheltered-reality.org The highly anticipated 10 year Anniversary Sheltered Reality CD is now out!! You can now listen to the First Decade of Sheltered Reality, from our early days' vocal songs, to a new song performed at Mount Rushmore. You can also pop the CD into your computer and watch two live performances of SR. One is of Everdream, from about 3 years ago, the other is Surrender, performed on Easter morning at Mount Rushmore with 84 drummers from 6 different states. The first Sheltered Reality DVD is available as well. It was filmed at Mount Rushmore, during our first ever Easter morning sunrise service. These are available for $15. Please fill out and mail this order form. (back to top)	Jordan Fratt
www.sheltered-reality.org

Board Beat

Mission Beat

Editors' Beat