The following bullet points either cover basic information about Music4Life™ or answer questions we frequently get when asked about it.
Music4Life is an education non-profit that provides donated-and-repaired musical instruments at no charge for use by the public school students of families in-need.
- Research shows that students who participate in school-based instrumental music activities do better in math, science, history, literature, international languages, reading, writing, even in computer science, in addition to what it teaches in terms of teamwork and self-discipline. Teachers, school nurses and guidance counselors know this as well as anyone.
- Therefore, all students can benefit -- UNLESS their families can’t afford to get them a musical instrument.
- Music4Life helps families across the very first barrier they encounter: The acquisition of the musical instrument in the first place. Our current economy makes this unattainable for many.
- Instruments are acquired from people who have them stored in their garages, attics or closets and realize that their highest and best use is to put them back into play. We are largely dependent on the instruments that donors provide to us.
- For instrument donors, it is essential to fill-out a Donor Form with detailed information about the instrument being donated so we can track it through the evaluation/repair process.
- We encourage school districts to provide the instruments to the youngest children possible so we can get them off the streets, away from gangs, drugs and other negative influences.
- All local Music4Lifeprograms are based on local chapters. The more funds a chapter raises for Music4Lifeso we can repair instruments, the more instruments that school district gets. Bookkeeping discipline allows us to guarantee that funds raised by a chapter will be used only to benefit the students attending that chapter’s particular school district.
- We work with Auburn, Bremerton, Edmonds, Everett, Highline, Kent, Lake Washington, Marysville, Northshore, Riverview, Seattle and Shoreline Public Schools. Other public school districts are being considered.
- The student does not own the instrument. It is “a loaner.” Music4Life provides instruments at no charge to participating public school districts on a long-term loan basis.
- A student may use the instrument of their choice as long as s/he is enrolled in the school district. If s/he leaves the school district for any reason (such as graduation, parents move out of the school district, etc.), the instrument must be returned to the school district so another student of a family in-need can use it.
- Instruments have a useful life of 3-15 years or more. So it’s possible that numerous students may get the educational benefits of instrumental music from the same instrument.
- Music4Life may be available to work with any public school district to implement a local school district-based Music4Life program.
For more information, contact David Endicott at (206) 409-3275 or David@Music4Life.org.
