Playing For Change Foundation

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Playing For Change Foundation

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The Playing For Change Foundation is a non-profit dedicated to creating positive change through music
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To date, 19 music and education programs have been created in 14 countries including Bangladesh, Brazil, Ghana, Mali, Nepal, Rwanda, Uganda, South Africa, Morocco, Thailand, Latin America and the United States. More than 2,000 young people attend free classes in dance, instruments, languages and musical theory, all taught by qualified local teachers
15,000+ greater community members have benefitted from these PFCF-operated programs. The foundation continues to expand its support to communities in need by strengthening and growing our existing programs and partnering with local organizations around the world.

10/13/2026

💙 Sometimes, the impact of our work goes far beyond music. And sometimes, the most powerful stories are told by the communities themselves.

We recently received a beautiful and deeply moving letter from the people of Jantong Village in northern Ghana, where a clean water initiative supported through our Bizung school of music and dance has helped transform daily life. 💧🌍

We wanted to share their words with you, along with our heartfelt gratitude to everyone who continues to support our mission and makes moments like these possible.

💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕
A Lifeline for Jantong Village — Our Deepest Gratitude to Playing For Change

In the heart of the Northern Region, just outside Tamale, lies Jantong — a small, resilient village where every single day began with a long, difficult walk.

Our mothers, our sisters, our young daughters — with basins on their heads and babies on their backs — walked to the dam to fetch water. Water that was brown, water that was unsafe, water that made our children sick. But it was the only water we had. It was our only choice.

When the team from Playing For Change came to Jantong to shoot a video, they saw more than just our smiles. They saw our struggle. They saw our pain. They stopped, they listened, and they felt what we feel every day.

And instead of turning away, you chose to act.

Your decision to provide Jantong with a borehole is not just a project — it is life itself. It is health for our children. It is time back for our women. It is dignity for our elders. It is hope for our entire community.

Today, because of you, a child in Jantong can drink clean, safe water and go to school instead of the dam. A mother can cook with peace of mind. A whole village can dream of a healthier tomorrow.

From every home, from every heart in Jantong Village, we say Thank You.

You did not just give us water. You gave us life. You gave us hope. You changed our story forever.

God bless you abundantly, Playing For Change.
With endless gratitude,
The People of Jantong Village
Near Tamale, Northern Region, Ghana

10/12/2026

🌎🪶 Today, on Indigenous Peoples’ Day, we celebrate the strength, resilience, and extraordinary cultural richness of Indigenous communities across the World.

Through generations, Indigenous peoples have carried forward their languages, traditions, music, stories, and ancestral knowledge, keeping their cultural identities alive while continuing to shape the world around us. ❤️

We believe every culture deserves to be heard, every tradition deserves to be respected, and every voice deserves to be celebrated. 🎶

Today and every day, we honor Indigenous peoples, their heritage, their contributions, and their enduring voices. 🌿

10/09/2026

🚨 UKRAINE NEEDS US. AND THE TIME TO ACT IS NOW. 🇺🇦

As Ukraine prepares for what the UN has warned could be its toughest winter yet, families, children, and communities face another season of freezing temperatures, power outages, and uncertainty.

Last winter, the Playing For Change Foundation and our partner, Humanitarian Innovation Group, raised $70,000 to provide emergency heating, generators, fuel, thermal support for children in oncology centers, and mental health services—reaching more than 20,000 people.

Now, we must mobilize again. Our goal is to raise $200,000, and we’ve already raised more than $100,000. But we need your help to reach the finish line before winter arrives. ❤️‍🩹

Here’s what your contribution can make possible:

💛 $35 — A winter resilience kit for one child
🎨 $135 — A day of childcare, art therapy, and psychosocial support
🎸 $685 — A battery-powered amplifier to keep music education going during blackouts
🏠 $3,500 — Renovations for a bomb shelter
🌐 $5,000 — Starlink equipment and six months of internet access, connecting up to 5,000 people
🔥 $12,000 — Fuel to heat six bomb shelters

Every contribution helps provide warmth, safety, connection, and emotional resilience when they’re needed most.

🎥 Watch our new video featuring student testimonials about experiencing air raid attacks and discover why this campaign matters now more than ever.

🤝 We are deeply grateful to Ken Freirich’s Random Acts of Kindness for supporting this campaign.

Join us. Give what you can. Help us reach our $200,000 goal. Every contribution matters.

🔗 Donate today: LINK IN BIO 🚨🚨🚨🚨

10/08/2026

🎶 Teacher Spotlight: Oumar Dembélé
📍 École de Musique de Kirina – Mali

Meet Oumar Dembélé, a talented balafon teacher and musician carrying forward a musical legacy rooted in generations of his family. 🪘✨

Since joining the Playing For Change Foundation program in 2023, Oumar has been sharing his knowledge, passion, and love for the balafon with the next generation of musicians in Kirina.

From his family’s musical traditions to stages and festivals across Mali, Oumar’s journey is a beautiful reminder of how music connects generations, preserves culture, and creates new possibilities. ❤️🎵

10/07/2026

🎶 Music. Culture. A new chapter.

Since 1995, the Ballanta Academy of Music and Performing Arts has empowered young people across Freetown, Sierra Leone through music, dance, and community outreach. 💃

With support from the World Monuments Fund and Aziza Chaouni Projects, the historic Old Fourah Bay College has been restored and transformed into a new home for music education and a recording studio—creating space for the next generation of Sierra Leonean artists while preserving the country’s rich cultural heritage.

Honoring the past. Building the future. Through music. 🌍🎵

10/05/2026

🌎🎶 Happy World Teachers’ Day!

Today, we celebrate the incredible teachers, mentors, and music educators who show up every day to share their knowledge, nurture creativity, and inspire the next generation.

Across our programs around the world, these dedicated teachers do so much more than teach music, they create safe spaces, build confidence, strengthen communities, and remind young people of what’s possible when someone believes in them.

To every teacher in the Playing For Change Foundation family: thank you for the heart, passion, patience, and endless dedication you bring to your work. ❤️

We’re grateful for you today and every day. 🌍🎵

09/29/2026

Celebrating Our Co-Founder, Whitney Kroenke Silverstein💛🌎🎶

With extraordinary vision, heart, and dedication, Whitney has helped shape the Playing For Change Foundation and the global community it has become today.

Her belief in the power of music to connect people and create meaningful change continues to inspire our work around the world. We are deeply grateful for her leadership, her generosity, and the genuine care she brings to every person and community she touches.

Wishing Whitney a beautiful birthday, with love and gratitude from the entire Playing For Change Foundation family. 🎶💛🌎

09/28/2026

What does joy sound like? 🎶💛

Sometimes, it’s children laughing, singing, dancing, and discovering the joy of making music together.

That’s what makes The Sound Space on Wheels so special. Through this mobile music education initiative, music travels directly to children and communities, creating space to learn, express themselves, build confidence, and have fun.

We’re proud to support TSS on Wheels and help bring music education to children who may not otherwise have access to it.

Because music is more than learning an instrument — it’s about connection, creativity, confidence, and finding your own voice.

Here’s a little glimpse of TSS on Wheels in action. 🚌🎵

09/22/2026

🌍🎶 Music that brings us closer.

A powerful cultural exchange unfolded in as students from Young Musicians Unite / The YMU Jazz Collective in Miami joined the young musicians of Ubuntu Music in Rwanda for a musical residency filled with collaboration, learning, and connection.

From Miami to Rwanda, these young artists shared their music and cultures, learned from one another, and built new friendships and creative connections along the way. 🎷🥁✨

The cultural exchange was a huge success, creating meaningful opportunities for students to experience the world through music and see just how much we can learn from one another.

We’re grateful to the Lynn and Louis Wolfson II Family Foundation for supporting this exchange and helping make it possible. 💛 Randi Wolfson Adamo Chris Adamo

Address

171 Pier Avenue #271
Santa Monica, CA
90405

Website

http://www.playingforchange.org/

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