As another year unfolds, I have been inspired to start a studio blog. My students have been up to lots of amazing things over the past many months. They've been growing their skill on the cello, but they've also been growing as people. I'm so proud of them. I thought this blog would be a fun way to document their achievements and other notable studio happenings.
I thought I'd start us off by telling you a bit about an activity we did together as a studio last fall. On Sunday, October 9, 2016, a cold and windy day, we shivered... I mean... performed at the Catonsville Farmers' Market. Our mission was to use our music to solicit donations of produce from passersby. Anything we'd gather would be donated to Catonsville Emergency Assistance's food pantry.
Getting ready. We used cello cases to hold down our stands. Did I mention it was windy?! Vika's dad helped us by gathering some donations from generous vendors. A fundraiser by profession, Jack knew that we'd get off to a better start if there were some donations already in the boxes. It encourages people to donate.
Who are we?! What are we doing?!
Getting ready to play! Here's the crew.
Despite the cold, a crowd gathered.
We started to get some donations! Thanks, young citizen!
Thank you, too! I think those were green beans. Yum!
When the kids weren't playing, they encouraged people to come donate by holding handmade signs.
A beautiful, thoughtful sign.
The boxes filled up.
We played from 10AM-12PM and then loaded up the bounty.
The next day, my husband Pete helped me bring the donations to CEA (Thanks, Pete!). They were delighted to see the carload of fresh food!
We had organized the produce prior to arriving. Look at the variety and color!
Weighing the produce. Want to guess how much it weighed? Scroll down for the answer!
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200 lbs.!
Wow, what a feat we accomplished through our music. Families who struggle to find enough to eat also struggle to find healthy food because of its high cost. That week, the people who went to CEA for assistance were able to take home fresh, nutritious food for their families. It's a beautiful thing to be able to help nourish those around us.
A big thank you to the Catonsville Farmer's Market for hosting us. They also donated their musician stipend for the day to CEA. That in combination with some cash donations we received, we were able to donate $64.00 in addition to the 200 lbs. of produce.
Thank you to the shoppers and vendors who donated. Thank you to the parents who showed up and helped out, and for their continuous support of their cellist and the cello studio.
A BIG thank you to the students who participated: Ainsley, Grace, Hazel, Isabelle, Joshua, Magda, Maple, Susie, Vika, Zavier. This couldn't have happened without YOU. Way to rock some good citizenship!