Remember when you were in junior high or high school and you thought it would be cool to play the trombone, the clarinet or was it the bass?
Then as soon as you realized that you had to practice everyday, you shut that instrument away in a closet or stuck it behind a door, certain that one day inspiration would raise its fickle head and you would master that abandoned instrument.
BlueBird Educational Foundation has a great solution: Recycle.
Born from a 2009 idea to help students who would like to play a musical instrument, but can’t afford the cost of purchasing one or its monthly rental, Recycling in the Key of E celebrates its 5th anniversary alongside the annual Musical Instrument Recycling Month of June. Folks at BlueBird Educational Foundation, some of whom include Chuck Shafer, Terry Davis, Sunny Booker, Bryan Welling, Dr. Kevin Perry, Denise Roberts and Daryl Bey, collect donated used musical instruments to have refurbished and then given to students in need. Each year, the instruments are presented to the St. Lucie County School Board during the October meeting.
According to Daryl Bey, research has shown that students who study music are good citizens, don’t get in trouble and get good grades. “I was involved in a similar project with the Birmingham Jazz Institute and we collected 300 instruments in the first year!”
Daryl continues, “There are a lot of people right here that played instruments as children and they have forgotten they still have that clarinet, flute, drum or whatever instrument in their garage or closet. They may be holding on to it for sentimental reasons, but we can clean them up and get them into the hands of students in St. Lucie County.”
Sunny Booker, a longtime musical theatre director and educator, said, “We must do whatever we can do to get our children engaged. Enhancing arts enhances our schools and our children.”
From Holland, Michigan, Bryan Welling says, “I was a trombone player in the marching band. Those were great years. We even played at the Rose Bowl Parade. If I can help to make other students feel like I felt, then it’s all worth it.”
The collection drive has been in progress, and they have a goal of being able to provide 100 instruments to students in the 2014-2015 school year. So start cleaning out your closets and those boxes up in your Florida attic. Previously used musical instruments can be donated to the Recycling in the Key of E program as a tax-deductible contribution.
BlueBird Educational Foundation also has its “Computers to Kids” program, collecting used computers and getting them ready for donation to students in need. The organization currently has 55 laptops to be refurbished.
Take your donated instruments (and computers) to BlueBird Educational Foundation, located at 809 Delaware Avenue in Fort Pierce. Of course, cash donations are always accepted, as well. If necessary, the collected instruments will be refurbished by the Foundation’s partners: Drummers Only Drum Shop in Port St. Lucie and Academy of Music in Fort Pierce.
Comments are closed.