Music for Life

05/07/2024

Thank you for all you’ve made possible for so many at-promise youth this school year. Your compassion allowed us to provide them with the support and resources they needed to reach their potential. Throughout the DMV, over 800 middle and high school age youth benefitted from our After-School Guitar, Band & Orchestra, and STEAM Guitar Programs; thousands more in Title I elementary schools and schools for youth with disabilities benefited from our Ukulele Program.

Planning for the next school year has begun. There are two opportunities coming soon for you to renew your support; make the next school year even better with more schools and at-promise youth receiving the support and resources they so desperately need.

Now through May 15th is United Way’s annual Do More 24, the DMV's largest annual online fundraiser wherein the community pools it’s resources to create the greatest impact. As in past years we have a one-for-one match for the first $15,000 received so your contribution will be doubled. You can donate through our website, the DoMore24 website, or by sending a check to Music for Life, PO Box 1141, Springfield VA 22151.

June 15th is the annual Columbia Pike Blues Festival. This year celebrates women in the blues. Check out their website for details on the time and performer lineup. We’ll be there with our information booth as well as selling t-shirts and raffle tickets for a guitar. The event is free and there are activities for the whole family. Stop by our booth to say hello and learn more about all the good you make possible.

04/18/2024

We're delighted about our collaboration with Ms. Annie Ray! Her students are actively participating in our orchestra and band program, taking lessons, and making great progress! Congratulations to them all! 🎶👏

Grammy Award winner Annie Ray and her orchestra students at Annandale High School will play the National Anthem at a Washington Nationals game.

03/05/2024

Urgently Seeking Violin and Cello Instructors!
Join our team to teach students in public schools in Northern Virginia. We offer $60 per hour. Interested? PM us or email [email protected].

02/05/2024

🎉🌟 Congratulations to Mrs. Annie Ray from Annandale High for her remarkable achievement in winning a Grammy award! 🏆 We are incredibly proud to collaborate with Mrs. Ray and for her support of our programs. Currently, we have enrolled over 50 talented students from her orchestra class at Annandale High School in our outstanding music education programs! Let's celebrate excellence and dedication in music education together! 🎶 🎻🎺 Annandale High School Fairfax County Public Schools Music for Life

Annandale High School Orchestra Director Annie Ray will accept the award, recognizing her work with children with disabilities, on Sunday in Los Angeles.

05/17/2023

Our 2023 Do More 24 Campaign concludes at midnight today. The first $15,000 in donations will be matched dollar for dollar. Thanks to all who’ve donated so far, we've reached 75% of our goal! Your support can get us to the finish line.

You can support us on the Do More 24 website (www.domore24.org/musicforlife), by going to our website (www.musicforlife.org) and clicking the “Donate Now” button in the top right corner, or by sending a check to Music for Life, PO Box 1141, Springfield VA 22151. Remember, we get $2 for every $1 you donate!

Thank you for your support of music education and compassion for those in need.

Skip Chaples, President

05/16/2023

Have you checked out some of our recent videos? Student playing guitar (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2PQRsQX9FiE) built in our STEAM Guitar Program; ukulele program(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-hMgOOU5w0) in Title I elementary schools. If you like the ukulele video there are others on our channel.

Difficult to believe we’ve started our 18th year of providing music education programming to at-promise (i.e. low income or at-risk) youth. We started with few teen guitar students in 2006; today we serve over 800 annually. Not only teaching guitar but also any band or orchestra instrument, ukulele in elementary schools, and building guitars.

Our 2023 Do More 24 Campaign is underway; it concludes May 17th. The first $15,000 in donations will be matched dollar for dollar. Thank you to all who’ve donated so far; we’re over half way to our goal. The need grew during the pandemic; the demographic we serve was severely impacted by lost learning and social isolation. Our music programs are helping so many of them get back on a path to success.

Please join us in helping the recovery of those youth most impacted by the pandemic. You can support us on the Do More 24 website (www.domore24.org/musicforlife), by going to our website (www.musicforlife.org) and clicking the “Donate Now” button in the top right corner, or by sending a check to Music for Life, PO Box 1141, Springfield VA 22151. Remember, we get $2 for every $1 you donate!
Thank you for your support of music education and compassion for those in need.

Skip Chaples, President

05/11/2023

Our annual spring fundraiser Do More 24 is currently underway; it ends May 17th. The first $15,000 in donations will be matched dollar for dollar. Our music education programs help over 800 at-promise youth – youth without the resources and support necessary to reach their potential – improve their academics, social skills and emotional wellbeing annually.

You can support us on domore24.org/musicforlife , by going to www.musicforlife.org and clicking the “Donate Now” button in the top right corner, or by sending a check to Music for Life, PO Box 1141, Springfield VA 22151. Remember, we get $2 for every $1 you donate!

Thank you for your support of music education and compassion for those in need.

Skip Chaples, President

Music for Life is community based organization that provides free music education and mentoring programs to youth. We offer three programs; learn more here.

06/09/2022

https://www.fcps.edu/blog/strumming-self-expression-ukuleles-help-students-communicate-through-music-therapy

Strumming for Self-Expression: Ukuleles Help Students Communicate Through Music Therapy By Office of Communication and Community Relations Spotlight June 03, 2022 Share Page If students in Jenna Grazzini’s music therapy class at Woodlawn Elementary School don’t feel like talking some mornings, t...

03/02/2022

We seek all instruments instructors to teach after-school individual instrument lessons to Middle and High School students during the academic school year in DC, Maryland, and Northern Virginia. The opportunity can be extended for summer. Please contact [email protected] for more information

11/18/2021

We are hosting our in-person Kick Off Event for our 23rd Annual Alternative Gift Fair season starting on November 21st!

Join us this Sunday November 21st outside the Takoma Park Farmers Market from 10am-2pm to talk with AGGW volunteers and to meet the Representatives from most of our 16 organizations. Look for us on the corner of Carroll and Laurel, next to Roscoe the Rooster!

Our website will be going live on November 21st so you can start your holiday shopping early! We will be sending a link to our website on Sunday so stay tuned. We can’t wait to see you! Main Street Takoma. With SatJiwan SJ Ikle-Khalsa, Mimi Ikle-Khalsa, Jim Groves, Jim Baird and Laura Mowrey Chesebro, Co-partners of Campesinas, AIM Health Institute, Skip Chaples, Crossroads Community Food Network, The Legal Resource Center on Violence Against Women, The Hilltop Microfinance Initiative - HMFI, African Mothers Health Initiative, Big Big World Project, BECA (Bilingual Education for Central America), SisterMentors, Friends of Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens, Project Knitwell, Little Friends For Peace, Together Women Rise, Small Things Matter, CHEER.

05/03/2021

May is Do More 24 time; United Way’s online fundraising event to support nonprofits in the DMV. It begins May 3rd and ends May 19th. Most nonprofits were severely impacted by this past year’s events; requests for service increased while revenue declined. We’re meeting the challenge but urgently need your support to sustain our services throughout the recovery. Please donate at https://www.domore24.org/musicforlife if you can; a generous benefactor will match the first $10,000 donated to us.

Our programs help at-promise youth overcome their barriers to becoming self-sufficient adults. They address inequity in music programs; a child's success in public education opportunities should not be contingent on their family's finances or the neighborhood in which they live. Our goal is $25,000;...