Canadian music education charity MusiCounts appealed to hitmaker “If The World Was Ending” JP Saxe to announce the recipients of their $ 500,000 donation to 33 different community organizations across Canada as part of the TD community music program.
In a video posted to YouTube, the Juno Award-winning singer-songwriter preceded the “big news” by saying “First, I’d like to talk a bit about the importance of music education for young people, especially at the moment Music education can help young people find connections, celebrate their identities and cope with the stress of growing up in a global epidemic.
“Whenever people ask me in the United States why there are so many musicians coming from Toronto and Canada, I say it’s because of the arts funding,” said Saxe, who is based in Los Angeles. Angeles. “It’s so mysterious – you prioritize music for kids, and then you get a bunch of musicians who come from Canada.”
In accordance with MusiCounts’ mandate, the money will be used to purchase new instruments, equipment and resources for communities that lack appropriate equipment.
The charitable arm of the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (CARAS) and the Juno Awards, MusiCompte’s website states that their mission is to “make music education inclusive, sustainable and accessible to young people of all of Canada ”.
In partnership with TD Bank, the grant program provides up to $ 25,000 to community centers and organizations.
Saxe added that some of the 33 recipients include “a couple from my hometown of Toronto: The HopeWorks Connection will use their funds for their Afro-Caribbean drumming program. The PACT Urban Peace program will purchase instruments for jam sessions and 2-Spirited People of the 1st Nations organizations which will use the funds for drum-making workshops and drum circle programming. “
Throughout its history, MusiCompte has supported 247 organizations across Canada by donating more than $ 3.6 million in instruments and equipment, according to a press release.
MusiCompte hopes the grants will help creativity thrive among BIPOC youth across Canada. According to MusiCounts, more than 60% of the 33 organizations receiving the grant support a significant number of BIPOC youth. Over 40% of organizations that MusiCompte donated to did not have musical instruments or equipment before the grant.
“The unprecedented volume of requests that MusiCounts has received for the MusiCounts TD community music program this year demonstrates how important it is for young people to make music in their communities,” said MusiCounts CEO Kristy Fletcher in a press release. “It’s a way for young people to connect to their culture, to each other and ultimately to themselves.
In the west, the African Friendship Society in Vancouver, British Columbia, will use its grant to purchase instruments and equipment for the Sounds of Africa program, which teaches the styles and history of African music in the goal of empowering black youth and building a community identity.
The grant also reaches the Arctic Circle with a donation to the Norman Wells Community Library in Norman Wells, Northwest Territories, which MusiCounts says will use the funds to purchase guitars, ukuleles, keyboards, hand drums and violins. The goal is to create the first music program in the community and its surroundings.
“On behalf of MusiCompte, congratulations to all of the community organizations that are receiving instrument grants from the TD MusiCompte Community Music Program this year, and thank you to TD for supporting this crucial initiative,” added Fletcher.
Here is the list of community organizations that receive the grant from the TD MusiCompte community music program:
Alberta
High Level Native Friendship Center, High Level
Pacekids Programs, Calgary
British Columbia
African Friendship Society, Vancouver
Afro Van Connect Society, Vancouver
Dze L K’ant Friendship Center Society, Houston
Ridge Meadows Association for Community Living, Maple Ridge
Manitoba
African Communities of Manitoba Inc. (ACOMI), Winnipeg
Programming Graffiti Arts Inc., Winnipeg
Native Family Center Inc., Winnipeg
Options Pathways & Transitions, Winnipeg
Riverton & District Friendship Center, Riverton
New Brunswick
Battle of the Arts NB, Fredericton
Boys and Girls Club of Greater Saint John, Saint John
Newfoundland and Labrador
Newfoundland and Labrador Easter Seals Inc., St. John’s, NL.
MICG Leisure Department, Makkovik, NL
Northwest Territories
Ingamo Hall Friendship Center, Inuvik
Norman Wells Community Library, Norman Wells
New Scotland
Music In Communities Cooperative Ltd., Canning
PAC Autism Nova Scotia Society (Autism Nova Scotia), Halifax
YouthNet of St. George, Halifax
Over the years, a daycare center and community center, Hubbards
Nunavut
Iqaluit Music Society, Iqaluit
Ontario
Afiwi Groove School, Ajax
Canadian Foundation for the Prevention of Family Violence (operating as the PACT Urban Peace Program), Toronto
Crouch District Resource Center, London
Georgian Shores Elementary Concert Orchestra, Midland
The HopeWorks Connection, Toronto
2-Spirited People of the 1st Nations, Toronto
Quebec
Lanaudière Native Friendship Center, Joliette
Coeur des Laurentides Social Pediatric Center, Sainte-Agathe-des-Monts
Saskatchewan
Kikinahk Friendship Center inc., La Ronge
Mistawasis Nehiyawak Community Studio Program, Leask
Yukon
Boys and Girls Club of Yukon, Whitehorse
