Birthdays are a great time to enjoy receiving gifts and celebrating with family and friends. For one special young girl named Sophie, turning 7 meant inviting friends to a fun-filled party and asking them to bring musical instrument donations!
Sophie’s mom said that their family has established a tradition of requesting donations for a good cause in lieu of presents for birthdays. When she learned of Sophie’s desire to follow that tradition for her 7th birthday, she began searching around for ideas. Fortunately for us, she came across our Instruments in the Attic outreach program, where gently used musical instruments are donated by community members, and the Academy finds ways and means to repair or refurbish the instruments as needed, and gets them into the hands of underserved students.
“The idea that our donated musical instruments would help provide musical opportunities for kids with little to no music education access really drew me in,” said Sophie’s mom, “Plus, Sophie loves the ‘School of Rock’ show and music in general.” In fact, Sophie’s birthday party had a “School of Rock” theme!
Sophie’s mom called the Academy to share their idea, and staff member Candy Neukam guided them on types of instruments to suggest. After a festive birthday party with 12 friends, Sophie and her mom came in with 4 bags of Early Childhood instruments, including bongos, finger cymbals, hand bells and more!
When Ms. Neukam asked Sophie what her friends thought of the idea, she said “They thought it was cool.” Sophie’s mom also mentioned that the Guitar Center offered discounts to the birthday party kids to encourage their efforts. We at the Academy think this is pretty cool, too! Thanks to Sophie, her mom, and everyone involved for making such a generous, thoughtful donation and for spreading the love of music to the community.
LEARN MORE ABOUT OUR OUTREACH PROGRAMS