The Academy of International Ballet Classique, located in Media, Pennsylvania shipped 10 boxes of ballet supplies to Iraq’s Music and Ballet School in Baghdad on Monday, July 27, 2009. Since a bombing several years ago, the Iraqi school is still struggling to recover, and board members of the Academy wanted to get involved. Help for the cause came from across America; drop boxes for gently worn leotards and slippers were placed in libraries around the county; and Grishko (who’s headquarters are located in a nearby town) donated 100 pairs of new pointe shoes. The Academy also sent new tights, slippers and ballet CDs and DVDs, which are difficult for Iraqi students to find. The shipment of supplies was worth more than $60,000. United States Representative Joe Sestak helped the Academy get in contact with the U.S. Embassy in Iraq, which will receive the package and coordinate the delivery. In an article from the Delaware County Daily Times, Josie Singer, the executive director of the Academy of International Ballet Classique said, “The arts can really bridge cultures. It is through the arts that we can become one.”