Welcome to the first edition of Your Impact Matters Monday!

Today I would like to talk to you about financial giving. In this day and age of economic crisis in the world, never has it been more difficult for people to sacrifice hard-earned money for another’s benefit. More than ever, however, the less fortunate need our help. There are so many causes that you can donate to that I couldn’t possibly list them all here. An entire blog could be dedicated to the beautiful opportunities for giving that abound in the world. For now, I am going to show you some people that need your help. There may be more deserving people in the world, there may be less. Your ability to give to these folks is for you to decide. If you have another worthy cause, please share it, and your passion for change will be made available to others that read here. Even if you don’t give to the group below, give somewhere. Even if its only a dollar, a financial gift to someone in need can make such a difference!

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The Elk Grove High School Thundering Herd Marching Band has been selected to attend Disney Magic Music Days in Los Angeles April 8 - 11, 2009. Disney Magic Music Days is a unique educational program designed for students of the arts. It gives instrumental, vocal and dance ensembles an opportunity to showcase their talents in a professional setting, study their craft in a positive, lively environment, and have fun doing it!

The band was required to submit a tape of the students playing and marching, and they were selected to attend based on their recorded performance.

The Elk Grove, California area has been hit hard recently with lay offs and other economic hardships. Initially, the entire 150 member band was filmed and selected, but due to the inability of most of the students to raise funds for the trip, the band director re-filmed the group with only 100 students. After unsuccessful fundraising attempts, the group is looking at a third video application, with only 50 band students - many of whom are still having difficulty raising the $400 per student fee to attend the trip, and leaving 100 students from the band behind.

All over the country, art programs like band, choir, drama and art are being cut from schools in place of increased sports programs, or from lack of funding. The Elk Grove school system is not excluded from this threat. They estimate that it will cost $45,000 to run the band program next year at a minimum, in an already struggling school system. 150 eager students may be left without a band program at all next year, and certainly without the funds to replace their tattered uniforms, dwindling supply of functional school instruments and colour guard flags, rifles and other equipment.

Students from the Elk Grove community are motivated musically and educationally. Saving their band program, and assisting the students of the Thundering Herd Marching band can do so much to promote academics in these financially struggling urban children! And there are loads of good reasons to encourage this enthusiasm. Research shows that kids who are actively involved in music (who play it or sing it regularly):

  • Do better in reading
  • Learn coordination, goal-setting, concentration and cooperation
  • Are more likely to do better in math and science because music helps build reasoning skills and cognitive development, which are important to both
  • Get along better with their peers and have higher self-esteem
  • Are more likely to go to college

A 1999 study by UCLA analyzed test scores from 25,000 junior high and high school students and found “significantly higher math proficiency” in kids who played instruments regardless of socio-economic backgrounds.

Please feel free to visit the Thundering Herd website to learn more about their program and their trip to perform in Los Angeles. You may donate to the band by printing the sponsorship form and mailing your payment directly to the band at:

Elk Grove Highschool Band Boosters
PO Box 633
Elk Grove, C A  95759

Please note that there is a different address on the sponsorship form, mailing your donation to the address above will ensure that your gift is delivered directly to the band. They are working to add a Paypal donation button to their site, and I will update you all here and on Twitter/Facebook when that is available!

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If you would like to participate in the Your Impact Matters Monday meme, feel free to write a post on your own blog about way you feel that we can impact our families, communities and Earth for the better. If you write a post, feel free to use either the button or banner below, and enter your url in to my Mr. Linky so that my readers and I can visit your blog and participate with you. (There is no need to ad a Mr. Linky to your site, simply enter the address of your post below)

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