The name is MWAH! – An acronym for Messages Which Are Hopeful!

Mission Statement for MWAH! Performing Arts Troupe:

MWAH! is an experience that delivers inspirational messages of hope and love from young people to young people, empowering them with the knowledge, courage, and strength to deal with life's challenges. Through words, music, and dance, we are changing lives and saving lives, one performance at a time!

MWAH! troupe members Jon Chambers–Green, Taylor Oechsel, and Lindsay Kent joined Andrew Forbes of the 2016 Quad Cities Youth Conference in an appearance February 24, 2016 on the Paula Sands Live television show from the KWQC–TV (NBC) studio in Davenport, Iowa. Please click Here to see it. . The MWAH! troupe was the Keynote presenter both days of the conference at the River Center in Davenport – middle school–age students from throughout the Quad Cities area the first day and high school students the second day.

Please click Here for a story and photos by Dan Eyrich, editor of aroundptown.com, about an appearance by the MWAH! troupe on January 25, 2016 in Prophetstown, Illinois for high school and middle school students.

Please click Here for a video by Dan Eyrich from the troupe's appearance in Prophetstown.

The troupe is registered as a 501c3 charitable organization in Illinois under the name KDC / MWAH! (Kids Do Count / Messages Which Are Hopeful!) and is affiliated with the Chicago Area Project, a grass–roots service and advocacy program based in downtown Chicago and part of an Illinois–wide community services network targeting at–risk youth and their families.

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For Recent photo Highlights, click Highlights.        To read Feedback we've received about our performances, click Feedback.

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The ever-changing troupe repertoire includes such various current issues as bullying, abusive relationships, diversity, self-injury, teen depression and suicide, positive alternatives to alcohol and other drugs, and the acceptance of differences among people.

MWAH! founder/director is Ray Moffitt, who has a background in social work.

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MWAH! Active troupe members.
(The photo was by Kent Kriegshauser Photography.)

MWAH! Active troupe members; includes troupe members' parents and several others who participated in the Knoxville performance – Joe Tomich, who lost his son, Wyatt, in a bicycle-SUV crash; Jennifer Higgins, whose son, Joshua Wilson, took his own life; and Illinois State Representative Don Moffitt, who lives on a farm just outside of Knoxville and is retiring from the Illinois General Assembly after 24 years of service to people in his legislative district.
(The photo was by Kent Kriegshauser Photography)

Small acts truly can change the world - as can 11 members of the MWAH! Performing Arts Troupe at Geneseo Middle School in Geneseo, Illinois on March 14, 2016, as reflected by the troupe's mission statement reference to changing lives and saving lives - one performance at a time.
(photo by Dan Eyrich)

To enlarge the photo above, please click Here .

The MWAH! troupe in the lobby of the Radisson of the Quad Cities Plaza in Davenport, Iowa during its participation in the 31st Quad Cities Youth Conference on February 24–25, 2016 in the nearby River Center.

Besides being the Keynote presenter, the troupe directed three workshop/discussion sessions each of the two days – middle school–age students the first day and high school students the second day.
More photos may be viewed here, please click here.
For a News Video from WQAD-TV (ABC) please click Here.
For a video from KWQC–TV (NBC – the Paula Sands Live Show) please click Here ..
For a story from the Quad City Times please click Here.
(photos by Stephanie Willcox of JW Wedding Photography in Moline, Illinois)


To enlarge the photo above, please click Here .

The MWAH! Performing Arts Troupe following its issues–oriented presentation on December 7, 2015 at Prairie Central Junior High School in the central Illinois community of Forrest, located near Pontiac. Included in the back row are Jennifer Higgins, who lost her 12–year–old son to suicide; Joel Clousing, who lost his 19–year–old adopted son to heroin addiction; and Kathy Davis, McLean County Coroner.
(photo by Scott Harrington)


To enlarge the photo above, please click Here .

The MWAH! Performing Arts Troupe following its performance on October 5, 2015 at Galesburg High School in Galesburg in western Illinois. Included in the top row with troupe members are three guest participants - Jennifer Higgins of Geneseo, who lost her 12–year–old son, Joshua Wilson, to suicide; Illinois State Representative Don Moffitt, whose legislative district includes the Galesburg area; and Angie McCarthy of Galesburg, who lost her 18–year–old son, Tyson Twitchel, in a car crash.
(photo by Scott Harrington)

To enlarge this photo, please click Here .

For a News Video from the MWAH! appearance on October 5, 2015 at Galesburg High School, please click Here < /br> This video was by WHBF–TV (CBS) in Rock Island, Illinois in the Quad Cities.

For a News Video from the MWAH! appearance on October 5, 2015 at Galesburg High School, please click Here < /br> This video was by WHBF–TV (CBS) in Rock Island, Illinois in the Quad Cities.

For a News Video from the MWAH! appearance on October 5, 2015 at Galesburg High School, please click Here < /br> This video was by WQAD–TV ( (ABC) – News 8) in Moline, Illinois in the Quad Cities.


Another group shot of MWAH! troupe members on October 5, 2015 at Galesburg High School (photo by Scott Harrington)

To enlarge the photo, please click Here .

The MWAH! troupe appeared August 24, 2015 for grades 6-12 at Abingdon–Avon High School in Abingdon, near Galesburg, in western Illinois. Please click Here for a front page story in the Galesburg Register–Mail newspaper.

Please click Here to see the front page story from the Abingdon Argus-Sentinel of September 3, 2015.

For a News Video from WTVO (ABC Channel 17 and Fox News 39 in Rockford) regarding an appearance by MWAH! at Flinn Middle School in Rockford on May 18, 2015, please click Here .

For a News Video from WIFR-TV (CBS Channel 23 in Rockford) regarding an appearance at Flinn Middle School in Rockford on May 18, 2015, please click Here .

The State Journal–Register newspaper in Springfield, Illinois ran a feature story on April 28, 2015 about the troupe's appearance the day before at Glenwood High School in Chatham, located on the south edge of Springfield.  To view this story, please click Here

For a News Video from WICS-TV (Channel 20) on the troupe's appearance on April 27, 2015 at Glenwood High School in Chatham, please click Here

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State Representative Norine Hammond (R–Macomb) fits right in with MWAH! troupe members following the troupe's issues–oriented presentation on August 24, 2015 at Abingdon–Avon High School in Abingdon, located south of Galesburg, in western Illinois. As part of the presentation, Rep. Hammond discussed sweeping new law enforcement legislation in Illinois which was supported by both Republicans and Democrats of all racial backgrounds and signed by Governor Bruce Rauner on August 12, 2015. To enlarge the photo, please click Here .
(photo by Scott Harrington)

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MWAH! troupe members outside Flinn Middle School in Rockford, Illinois following their performance on May 18, 2015 for an audience of more than a thousand students and staff.    To enlarge the photo, please click Here .

For a gallery of photos from a MWAH! appearance at Flinn Middle School in Rockford, Illinois on May 18, 2015 please click Here.
(photos by Stephanie Willcox from Moline)

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The MWAH! Performing Arts Troupe outside John Deere Middle School in Moline, Illinois, in the Quad Cities, following its performance in the school auditorium for nearly 800 students in grades 6-8 on May 4, 2015. To enlarge the photo, please click Here. For a gallery of photos from the John Deere performance, please click Here. (photos by Stephanie Willcox from Moline)

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