Congratulations to our 4th Quarter recipients!
Boston MA Community Music Center of Boston: This venerable Boston organization (formed in 1910) offers instruments and training to kids K-12 from around Boston. Located in Boston’s South End, they offer instruction there, but 85% of their activity takes place in schools and community centers around the city. They need support for a larger inventory of instruments so that students in need can participate. The student population is diverse, and 71% of the students in this program qualify for the Federal free lunch program. We gave a grant there early in CFKF’s development, and CFKF’s offering them a grant of $2,500 to continue supporting the great work they do there.
Chicago IL Chicago West Community Music Center: This is our 3rd grant to this organization, which serves people K-adult in an economically challenged area in west Chicago. Current students have grown out of the smaller instruments we’ve supported, and Covid restrictions accentuate the need for more instruments that students can have at home. 100% of the students in this program qualify for the Federal free lunch program. CFKF has given them a grant of $1,000 to continue supporting the great work they do there.
Chicago IL ChiArts Music Conservatory: This community-based conservatory serving kids grades 9-12 has a strong need for more and better inventory for their string program. They strive to serve all 50 wards in Chicago, and make a great effort to create a broad-based, ethnically diverse and equitable student community. CFKF is offering a grant of $1,500 in matching funds to encourage this worthy and innovative program.
Denver CO Denver Young Artists Orchestra: This youth orchestra serves kids grades 2-12 in the Denver metro area; the focus of this grant is support for kids grades 3-5, with the goal of getting that segment of the program back to full strength during Covid. Their focus is on supporting kids with mixed ethnicity and lower socioeconomic status. 93% of the students in this program qualify for the Federal free lunch program. CFKF is offeringgrant of $1,500 to support this worthwhile program in an area of the Intermountain West.
Fancy Farm KY Elementary Fine Arts Dept.: This school serving kids grades 4-6 in their music program needs an infusion of ukuleles in order to better build participation in music. 100% of the students qualify for the Federal Free Lunch program. CFKF is offering agrant of $1,425 to support this worthwhile and growing program in a rural area.
Ft. Defiance AZ Rez Refuge: This program, located on the Navaho Reservation in the northeastern corner of Arizona, is offering free instruction and instruments to kids grades K-10, along with take-home videos and indigenous musician showcasing. They specifically needed guitars for this program, as most of their existing inventory is beyond repair. The student population is mostly Native American (many of the Navaho tribe, and 85% of the students in this program qualify for the Federal free lunch program. CFKF has offered matching support for their purchase of 6 guitars.
Homestead FL Arts in Action: This summer music program is building an opportunity to experience and play culturally relevant music for disadvantaged kids grades 1-8. Students receive 1-1 guitar instruction, with songs celebrating Hispanic culture for the students in the program. 98% of the students in this program qualify for the Federal free lunch program. CFKF has offered matching support for this program’s purchase of 12 guitars.
Lakeland FL Ukelele Kids Club Inc.: This remarkable and substantial organization supports critically ill and medically fragile children in and out of hospitals with the gift of music through ukuleles and instruction by music therapists. Recipients age from pre-K through high school. They operate in partnership with over 250 hospitals around the US and in several foreign countries; We’ve offered a matching grant of $2,000 in matching funds to initiate a relationship with this innovative organization.
Los Angeles CA Boys and Girls Club of Hollywood: This BGC serving kids K-12 has a strong need for more guitars that students can have at home, especially during Covid, as well as more inventory to be able to serve more kids. They serve an area of LA with high unemployment and crime; the student population is multiethnic (mainly Latinx), and 100% of the students in this program qualify for the Federal free lunch program. CFKF has offered a matchinggrant of $1010 to support this valuable program’s acquisition of new guitars.
Manteca CA Manteca USD: This district’s high school has a very active music program; they have a strong need for more instruments to allow greater participation in the program, and many instruments in their inventory have outlived their useful life. The student population is ethnically mixed (predominantly Hispanic); nearly 90% of the students involved rely on school instruments. CFKF has offered a grant of $1600 in matching funds to support this program serving kids across a broad area in central California.
Miami FL Greater Miami Youth Symphony: This youth orchestra serving kids K-12 in southern Dade County seeks support for an infusion of new instruments for students in their scholarship and free public school programs. CFKF has offered a matching grant of $1,500 in matching funds to support kids most in need in this youth orchestra.
NYC NY Third Street Settlement School: This is our second grant to Third Street; they provide instruments and instructional support for public schools around NYC; the school being considered ((PS 130) serving kids grades 3-5 has a strong need for instruments that students can take home to practice in addition to instruments at school). PS 130 is located in Chinatown; the students are ethnically mainly Asian (86%); CFKF has offered a matching grant of $1,500 to support this worthy NYC program’s efforts.
Roseburg OR Umpqua Symphony Association: This organization offers instruments and teaching to kids K-12 from a large, mainly rural area of southern Oregon; they are the only organization in the area that offers strings to kids before junior high. They need an infusion of instruments to be able to offer training regardless of need. CFKF has offered a matching grant of $1300 to support the work they do there in a rural area of the Northwest.
San Rafael CA Enriching Lives Through Music: ELM serves the Canal area of San Rafael, providing instruction and instruments to kids ages 7-18 in an economically and socially challenged area. They have a well-organized and incremental learning program, starting with strings and developing into full wind and chamber ensembles. They need more instruments to be able to best serve the variety of needs of kids’ age levels and sizes. CFKF has offered them a grant of $2,000 to support the great work they do there for a student population in need.
Shaker Heights OH Shaker School Foundation: This public school string program serving kids grades 5-6 needs an infusion of new instruments to help provide access to students most in need. CFKF has offered a matching grant of $1,000 in matching funds to support kids most in need at this school system.
St. Charles MN St. Charles Public Schools: This new program serving kids K-12 is offering after-school music instruction in a rural farming area of Minnesota. They need an infusion of new instruments in order to build the program. They have a band program (marching band), and this would be their first foray into the string area. Primary employment is through farming and the nearby Mayo Clinic. We’ve offered a matching grant of $810 in matching funds to support this worthy school system in an area of the upper Midwest.
Stockton CA Able Charter Schools: This charter school is beginning guitar instruction for 4th and 5th grades. They presently have no orchestral program, but hope to build one with the expansion of their performing arts center. They do have an existing violin program that the guitar offering would build upon. CFKF is offering a matchinggrant of $2,010 in matching funds from the Hilger fund to support this worthy and building program for disadvantaged kids.
Vista CA Boys and Girls Club: This BGC serves kids ages 5-18 in the Vista area; music is a core part of their activities there, and they wish to provide greater access to that through a larger and better inventory of instruments. The families involved are ethnically mixed (40% English Language learners), and 84% of the students in this program qualify for the Federal free lunch program. CFKF has offered a matching grant of $475 in matching funds to support this program serving kids in this BGC.
Walla Walla WA Assumption Catholic School: This private school serving kids K-6 wishes to build a new music program, starting with ukulele instruction, music theory classes and vocal accompaniment. We’ve offered a matching grant of $885 in matching funds to support this program serving kids in a rural area of eastern Washington.
Williamsburg VA Providence Charter School: This is our second grant offer to Williambsburg. Last year’s grant helped to initiate a new violin program which they hope to build on with this grant to support the students in the 4th grade. CFKF has offered a matching grant of $1,000 in matching funds to continue supporting the growth of this new program.
Wilmington DE Tennis Rocks: This afterschool youth support program wishes to build on their existing activities through offering instruction in guitar and ukulele. The hope is to create more opportunities for positive social and cultural interaction through the experience of music. This program serves an impoverished and diverse area of the community and 100% of the students in this program qualify for the Federal free lunch program. We’ve offered a matching grant of $1,375 to support this worthy and innovative program in a state we’re still building presence in.