The Gift of Music

We recently reached out to see if anyone had any violins and guitars that they wanted to donate so that our Superstars in the Philippines could learn to play an instrument. Tory is a musician who was inspired to help. Thank you to everyone who donated instruments! Read what Tory has to say below.

These are happy pictures and videos of the children in Bulacan that received your instrument donations! They are in a group violin class, so unfortunately you can’t see the guitars here.

Violin and Guitar classes amount to about $5 an hour session and they all travel together from the orphanage. Putting this into perspective, 1 US dollar equals roughly 46 Philippino Pesos, and violins are one of the most expensive in demand instruments. Before your donations kids had to share instruments and left them at the studio after class. Now they are able to take instruments home to practice and learn. 2 hours with a shared instrument is not enough to gain any benefits.

I am completely floored by the amount of instruments we pooled together and my heart is warmed seeing all the faces paired with them. Initially Maya Rowencak only requested 8 but because of everyone’s support it’s clear how many more kids lives were changed! In addition this studio seems like it’s built a great musical community and I hope our sponsored children become a strong part of that.

Along with the donations we sent about 50 translated letters from kids, parents, and musicians in the NJ/NYC scene all offering words of wisdom about learning to play music. We also sent out donated rosins and teaching supplies. Lyris Hung arranged string donations from D’Addario Orchestral, and Sheryll Garcia Arroyo coordinated translations of the letters to Tagalog.

Through all this I’ve seen the incredible kindness people are capable of and I am so fortunate to have you in my world. Thank you to all who donated, sent letters, and spread word. A big thank you to Maya’s Hope for making this gift possible, and for continuously making this gift possible. If you are reading this and would like to give the freedom of music to a child please donate here, it’s not too late!

Don’t ignore the difficult posts in your feed, because there is something everyone has in their power to donate and it is time and effort. Even a share could mean getting the information in front of a person who can help.

Make a difference where and when you can because you can.

Much love,

Tory Anne Daines

www.FairPanic.com

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