ACM Lifting Lives Grant Submissions

ACM Lifting Lives is now calling for submissions for grant funding. 

ACM Lifting Lives is dedicated to improving lives through the power of music. Grants from ACM Lifting Lives fund programs that promote education and healing through the power of music. The types of programs we will consider for funding fit in one of the following categories:

Music Education

  • Music education programs in schools, especially for at-risk, underserved populations
  • Start-up programs for (or to prevent dissolution of) music education in grades K-12

Music as Therapy

  • Music education programs for special needs schools and camps
  • Music therapy programs in hospices and hospitals
  • Music instruments & music programs for the disabled
  • Music therapy programs in retirement homes and nursing centers
  • Musical instruments & music programs for the military
  • Music-related relief programs in communities devastated by natural disasters

Nominated organizations will receive a letter and grant application in early August.  The ACM Lifting Lives Grant Committee will then review all applications and select recipients who will be announced in October 2010.

For further information on submission guidelines, CLICK HERE.

ACM Beneficiaries Spotlight

PEACE THRU MUSIC

Boys & Girls Club Recognized Nationally for Putting Music into the Lives of Youth

Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Oxnard and Port Hueneme Receives National Merit Award from Boys & Girls Clubs of America

On Friday, May 14, 2010 the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Oxnard and Port Hueneme received Boys & Girls Clubs of America's prestigious Merit Award for Program Excellence in the Arts for its Peace Thru Music and Voices of Hope Choir program.  The award was presented at a recent ceremony held during Boys & Girls Clubs of America's 104th National Conference in New York, N.Y.  Merit Awards for Program Excellence, which are sponsored by MetLife Foundation, are presented for outstanding programs developed and implemented in Boys & Girls Clubs across the country and come with a $2,000 cash award.  Each year, hundreds of entries are submitted in the five core program areas: character and leadership development; education and career development; health and life skills; the arts; and sports, fitness and recreation.

Peace Thru Music is part of a variety of arts programs available to youth in the Oxnard and Port Hueneme communities.  The program has been awarded grants totaling $17,500 for purchase and repair of instruments over the past two years by the Academy of Country Music's philanthropy, ACM Lifting Lives®.   ACM Lifting Lives is dedicated to improving lives through the power of music, with grants funding programs that promote education and healing through the power of music.  "Throughout the country, we're funding programs that provide stipends for new music teachers, instruments for students and men and women in the armed forces, and music therapy in after-school programs and in health care facilities.  Through these programs, we're helping improve lives through music with a broad and diverse reach," said Erin Spahn, Director of ACM Lifting Lives.

Additionally, the Clubs' Voices of Hope Choir and Orchestra - a partnership with the Rio School District, gives opportunity to after school program students to take part in the choir program on-campus.  "We are thrilled to receive national recognition for Peace Thru Music and the Voices of Hope Choir and Orchestra.  We look forward to partnering with ACM Lifting Lives to provide innovative programming to our local youth" said Tim Blaylock, chief professional officer of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Oxnard and Port Hueneme.  "I am truly humbled by this award and look forward to continuing to change lives through music," noted Tony Barnes, director of the Peace Thru Music program.  The cost for parents to send their child to a Club in Oxnard or Port Hueneme is just $15 per year, and no child is turned away due to economic hardship -scholarships are available for any child whose family cannot afford the annual fee.

For more than 55 years, the Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Oxnard and Port Hueneme Clubs have provided programming to local youth with an emphasis on five core Club program areas: Character & Leadership Development; Education & Career Development; Health & Life Skills; The Arts; and Sports, Fitness & Recreation. Activities in these five core areas support Boys & Girls Clubs of America's overarching goal to help each child reach their full potential and BE GREAT by securing academic success, living a healthy lifestyle and distinguishing themselves as young leaders.

The program allows for open enrollment and is free to all Club members.  In addition to students, the Club is seeking volunteers and donations of musical instruments and music books.   If you, a friend or loved one have an instrument which is no longer being utilized and would like to find a home for it, please consider donating it to the Boys and Girls Club of Greater Oxnard and Port Hueneme.  Contact Linda le Brock, llebrock@bgcop.org or 805-815-4959 x 205.  For those interested in volunteering, please contact Tiffany Lopez, tlopez@bgcop.org or 483-1118.

To learn more about the Peace Thru Music Program or about the Clubs, please contact the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Oxnard and Port Hueneme at 815-4999 or visit www.peacethrumusic.org. The Club welcomes anyone interested to visit the Martin V. Smith Youth Center and see first-hand the impact being made on today's youth.