To: Friends of Instruments of Change®
From: Mike Steinel and Beverly Hoch
Re: Dylanfest, Haiti, Alabama and South Africa
Thanks so much to all of you for your support in the past. We wanted to take a moment to fill you in on what’s happening right now with IOC in Texas.
Dylanfest: Once again Tex Zimmerman and his All Star Revue will host two concerts featuring the music of Bob Dylan. On Sunday May 29 Tex and friends will present the Gospel Music of Bob Dylan at First Presbyterian Church in Denton starting at 7 PM. Monday May 30 (Memorial Day) the Revue, with a star studded cast of guests, will perform at Dan’s Silverleaf in Denton (7PM to 10PM). For more information visit: www.texzimmerman.com or www.dylanfest.org.
Haiti: In late July IOC will travel to Haiti to hold a weeklong workshop at Quisqueya Chapel in Delmas, just outside of Port-au-Prince. We will bring instruments of many types and work with 100 children and young adults. Our trip to Haiti has been postponed twice (for political unrest and the cholera outbreak), but now it looks like we are really going. We are prayerful that we can bring the joy of music to a group who have really suffered.
Alabama: We have begun an initiative in partnership with music educators in Tuscaloosa and Birmingham Alabama, the area devastated by tornados in late April. On May 23rd Mike will travel to both cities to meet with school officials to begin the IOC Individual Assistance Grant program. This program will identify children whose instruments were un-insured and lost and match them with suitable donors.
South Africa: We continue to support HandsOnDrums South Africa, a field drum corps and it’s founder Leighton Pinetown. Leighton was the first recipient of the Heart for Change Fellowship, which made it possible for him to visit the US in the fall of 2010 and study music and music teaching in Denton Texas. His organization is growing rapidly is always in need of instruments, music, and accessories.
How can you help? Donate an instrument if you can. Consider joining an IOC team. Funds are always needed (for music, accessories, shipping, etc.) Join us for Dylanfest.
Background Information Regarding IOC: Instruments of Change® was founded in 2008. Our parent organization, Covenant Children, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) charity dedicated to relieving the suffering of children throughout the world. Its main project has been sponsoring AIDS orphanages in Kenya since 2005. In 2008 and 2009 Instruments of Change® raised funds, collected donated instruments, traveled to Kimberly South Africa with a team of 10, and introduced music reading and performance to over 150 participants each year in the neighborhood of Homevale. IOC plans to return in 2012.
To donate online: www.covenantchild.org or www.instrumentsofchange.org