GÁNDARA RAISES $1,673 TO BENEFIT YOUTH DURING VALLEY GIVES DAY GÁNDARA LAUNCHES MUSIC & ART SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM Valley Gives Day, held on May 2, is a one day, 24-hour online giving event hosted by the Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts. The event helps to support the over 450 non-profit and charitable organizations throughout Hampshire, Hampden, and Franklin counties. This year, the Gándara Center focused its Valley Gives fundraising efforts for the Youth Development Center to help them expand their media literacy program. Our #WhenUSay campaign, created with youth from our Youth Development Center, helped to spread awareness about commonly used words and their double-meanings to those with mental illness or addiction issues. The short video clips featuring a youth who regularly participates in media literacy programming at the center, helped drive home the importance of how words are used. While the primary purpose of Valley Gives Day is to raise funds, we were equally grateful for those who helped spread the messages of our #WhenUSay campaign and helped us to continue important conversations around mental health. Funds from Valley Gives Day helped the Youth Development Center purchase additional equipment for the recording studio. Thanks to the success of our Frozen Yogurt 5K this year, we were able to create another new, healthy recreational (and fun!) initiative for the individuals we serve. Understanding how music and art programs can provide an outlet for stress relief and serve as a valuable tool when combined with therapy, the Descant Music & Art Scholarship program was born. Partnering with Holyoke-based Descant Music & Art Studio, we opened the program to both adults and children in Gándara’s care. With sponsorship by Gándara staff, individuals applied for weekly music (art, piano, guitar, drums, violin, bass, trumpet, trombone, or tuba) or art lessons. During the kick-off in November, 40 scholarships were awarded for three months of lessons. The scholarship covers all costs including rental equipment, books/materials, and a half-hour weekly private lesson. Our hope is to expand the program in the future and offer the scholarship opportunity to individuals we serve throughout the state.
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