Total Instruments Delivered As we pass the mid-year point, Music4Life™ reports second quarter (December, January & February) results to its 11 booster club chapters with the delivery of 159 donated and repaired full-sized musical instruments to participating public school districts. For use by student's income-qualified families, the "fair market value" of these 159 instruments and related materials is $71,085. All instrument values are according to our independent third-party vendor-experts.
What "Ready-to-Play" Means
The PROMISE of Music4Life is to provide a ready-to-play musical instruments to participating public school districts. What "ready-to-play" means is a musical instrument that’s been repaired and that a student can pick-up and immediately begin playing. Can you imagine the disappointment if a student is provided a musical instrument and it’s NOT ready to be played? A trumpet without a mouthpiece is not ready-to-play. We provide mouthpieces when needed. A violin without a bow is not ready-to-play. We provide bows when needed. We also provide a serviceable case for every musical instrument. They may not always be pretty, but they do work. Our vendors are rightfully proud of their work and want to know whenever an instrument is not ready-to-play.
Music4Life Receives Largest Financial Donation EVER In January Music4Life.org received the largest financial donation ever received from any public or private entity. The contribution of $20,000 was from the Kazuo & Mary Yamane Family Foundation, a Music4Life donor in other recent years. It is unrestricted, meaning that it is not intended to be dedicated to any one of our 11 participating Music4Life booster club chapters, but is already benefiting them all. For fairness, Music4Life uses unrestricted financial donations to repair instruments in proportion to the relative financial donations raised by each of the 11 booster club chapters. Needless to say, the entire Governing Board of Music4Life is enormously grateful to the Yamane Foundation.
Online Access for Families In-Need How do students of families in-need participate in instrumental music activities during a pandemic-environment? Different public school districts do this differently, of course. During the entire year, we've been emphasizing that students be encouraged to practice their instruments every day so none of them falls behind. Highline Public Schools reports a collaboration with King County that provides cable connectivity and "hotspots" for use by families in-need. Other school districts report the use of online programs such as SmartMusic that allow for live student-teacher interaction for player development. Practice may not make perfect in this case, but it sure helps keep kids interested.
Common Misperception about M4L There's a common misperception that Music4Life is owned by Rotary. That's not correct. Music4Life is an independent non-profit organization officially recognized by the IRS. What IS true is that Music4Life has been endorsed by many Rotary clubs, and is endorsed by the Rotary District 5030 of 47 clubs (four consecutive three-year renewals actually). But just as we can be endorsed by Rotary clubs, we also can be endorsed by other non-profit organizations, such as Lions, Kiwanis, Eagles, Elks and other community service organizations. Please see our history if you're interested in more details.
Thanks to 4Culture
4Culture (formerly the Seattle-King County Arts Commission) has once again continued its financial support of Music4Life in King County with an annual sustaining grant of $2,750. 4Culture provides financial support for the arts, for heritage and preservation activities, public art and galleries and numerous others. Very nearly just as important as the financial support is the official endorsement provided by this innovative program of King County. Many thanks, 4Culture!
OneHope Wines Extended to May 31st
The OneHope Wine Foundation provides ten percent of qualified
online purchases (excluding taxes and shipping, for instance) to all Music4Life chapters. Purchase deadlines have just been extended to May 31st. Benefits are booster club specific. So contact David@Music4Life.org for details to benefit your booster club chapter.
Rotary Golf Tournaments Set Two Rotary District golf tournaments are being planned. The first will be on May 17th at the Harbour Point Golf Course. The second will be on the afternoon of June 28th at the Golf Club of Newcastle. Proceeds will benefit the four official Rotary District 5030 Projects, one of which is Music4Life.
New M4L Domain Is Available As we work to update all pages of the Music4Life Website, it's a good time to announce that the Music4Life.org domain is now available for e-mail addresses to all chapter members and others active in M4L. If you would like to opt-in to this service, the formula for new Music4Life e-addresses is (first name)-dot-(last name)@Music4Life.org. Please feel welcome to show your support for Music4Life.org and request addition to our list.
Gifts in Memory of (friends) Donations honoring the service or memory of individuals you know may be made online or by credit card. Any size donation is welcome.
Krystal Gannaway of Laguna Niguel, California has made a substantial financial donation in memory of her husband, Gary R. Gannaway, former President/CEO of First Choice Health. Krystal is also donating Gary's banjo that he received as a youth from his parents.
Tim Hevly of the Seattle Mariners has made a financial donation in memory of his father, Bill Hevly, of the University of Washington.
Mary MacKenzie has made a financial donation in memory of Tyler Merrill.
