Kids See Stars

[bostongirl]

Greetings!!

I thought I would start a thread to keep everyone up to date with the Kids See Stars charity gift we gave to Marty this year. Check out the thread under Ask Marty for the results of the charity drive and Marty's reply.

I want to again thank everyone for their participation. This was such a wonderful cause. I believe that it is so important for children to have the opportunity to learn music. We know what a difference it has made in our lives. We are leaving the website open for a while, so if you did not get a chance to donate and would still like to, please do so on the Contributions page. kidsseestars.getmycharity.com/

The charity we chose is Rock for Kids out of Chicago. They have offered to let Marty choose the school(s) in his area to receive the donations. We also will be planning an event for the kids at the school to receive our gifts and meet Marty. Since Marty is headed out to NZ in just days, the earliest I think this will happen is February.

Nancy and I have some pics of the instruments that were donated by local businesses. Promise to get those up here soon. Again thanks to all for helping to make this gift such a success and so special for Marty and the kids.

Liz

[bostongirl]

Hey Everyone,

I wanted to give everyone a quick update. We have started working on presenting our donations to an Rock For Kids music program. Of course, we are waiting for Marty ro return from his amazing trip to NZ before details can be worked out.

In the meantime, we have posted pics of the donated equipment on the Kids See Stars website. Here is a quick link for anyone interested in taking a peek. kidsseestars.getmycharity.com/albums.asp?action=showAlbumsDetails&page=27246&intAlbumId=407

Liz

[Sharon (sdbrins)]

Those are great! Thanks for posting the pics Liz. I can't wait until Marty can actually do the presentation.

[BBE]

I think that will be a happy day for him!

[jupiterjane]

wow, that is great....thanks for all the hard work and for posting the pics!

[blueeyz]

Thanks for posting an update and pics, Liz! Looks like there will soon be some very happy kids.

[swillis]

Wow-Marty has really generous fans with big hearts. There are going to be many really happy kiddos in the Chicago area.

[cfbj01]

Thanks for the update Liz.

[judyhuong]

liz, thanks for the update and posting the pics. can't wait to hear about the presentation! shout out to nancy & duane for the donations you made. how wonderful!! and another thank you to the elves team for such a thoughtful gift to marty and to the kids!

[dustyblue25]

Thank you for the update and pics Liz. The kids will be very happy!!!

[starcrossed]

I agree that you will be making many children very happy. It was such a great thing that all of you did! Thank you for the update.

[dawn]

Sorry - I've not been keeping up so well around here

Liz & Nancy - thanks & congratulations for planning this gift for Marty - It was brilliant to be able to be a part of it.

Thanks for keeping us posted!

[BBE]

Jan 28, 2009 10:12:36 GMT -5 dawn said:

Sorry - I've not been keeping up so well around here

Liz & Nancy - thanks & congratulations for planning this gift for Marty - It was brilliant to be able to be a part of it.

Thanks for keeping us posted! [img src="martycasey.org/emoticons/thumbsup.gif"]

[/IMG][/quote]

You're welcome, Dawn! Don't forget our other "elf", Janet (ycrney), though--we couldn't have done it without her. She made the website and was so helpful in so many ways.

Many thanks to you and to everyone who donated! You've all done a great thing for some kids who will really appreciate it.

[dawn]

Oops - sorry - a huge thanks to ycrney too

Thanks for that Nancy!

[BBE]

The winter weather may have been cold, but Chicago gave the Elves a warm welcome! We even had our own parking garage--just what every Elf needs to find in downtown Chitown!!!



;D

[hammeredham]

And I'm here to tell ya, as the "elf" being silly in that photo, that it was DAMN cold !!!!!!

HH

[bostongirl]

Love the pic!!!!

You guys are too funny

[starcrossed]

LOL... 'Elf Park' ... too funny

[hammeredham]

Give BBE the credit for that one - she does tend to find some pretty good photo ops or, in some cases, *create* them. Me, I just write a song now and then.......and sing it.......and play the guitar in it.......and record it......and.......

For anyone coming in here late I did write one pretty much specifically for this project; it's called "A Life Without Music" which you can tune into at my Artist MySpace listed in the sig area at the bottom of this post. It's my gift to Kids See Stars........and if you go to the website that Liz posted above (Please DO go there!!!!) and peek at the photos, you'll see the donated Yamaha F335 acoustic guitar which was used in the song.

HH

[bostongirl]

I promised to give everyone an update on Kids See Stars, so here goes. I have lots of news so grab a beverage, sit back, and check out the news. [img src="martycasey.org/emoticons/coffee.gif"][/IMG]

First, I would like to thank everyone again for their generosity and support for Kids See Stars. In these economic times, it was amazing the generosity of everyone. [img src="martycasey.org/emoticons/cheer.gif"][/IMG] [img src="martycasey.org/emoticons/cheer.gif"][/IMG] [img src="martycasey.org/emoticons/cheer.gif"][/IMG] I imagine that some people thought their donations had little impact, but I want you to know that there were many small donations that added up to one brand new acoustic guitar for some very deserving children!!!! Every contribution made such a difference. We had additional donations after we gave the gift to Marty, here at the org. The final total was $3,332.80 !!! Wow!!!!!

On Monday, March 9th, we presented the check and equipment to Rock for Kids (RFK) at the Association House in Chicago. The Association House is a community center that offers many programs including an RFK sponsored music program. They are starting up a rock band music program soon and had no instruments so we thought this was the perfect fit. Marty was able to join the celebration and spent time jamming with the kids. The children are currently in a percussion program and came to the event with their bucket drums and drum sticks. Marty and the kids first did a drumming session that lasted almost 20 minutes!!!
I have a 15 minute video of it, but do not know how to edit it, so if someone wants to volunteer to help me with it, I can post it here. Next Marty sang a couple of songs as the kids held the beat. Watch out Bobby Kourelis !!!! It is a good thing that Marty has had a lot of screaming experience because he had to scream over the sound of about 20 drums!!!! The best part was when the electric guitars were plugged in and Marty told them to come up and try them out. He was immediately engulfed in a sea of excited and anxious children. When he sat down, he was literally lost in that sea. I think a director got the kids to line up and Marty took time with each child to show them how to hold the guitar and make some sound!!! These kids were so happy and excited. [img src="martycasey.org/emoticons/clap.gif"][/IMG] [img src="martycasey.org/emoticons/clap.gif"][/IMG] A second line was formed for the kids to try out the base guitar and every single child wanted to try that too. At one point, some kids also went over to the brand new acoustic guitar and gave that a try. We went well over the time allotted and parents were coming in to pick up their children. They did not want to leave.

Nancy took lots of pics and will be posting them soon, but I want to share with you two of my favorites that she gave me for a press release. I am sure she won’t mind.

Some of the children could not grasp the fact that the four guitars, amps, and the rest of the equipment was brought there for them and we were leaving it there.
[img src="martycasey.org/emoticons/heart.gif"][/IMG] [img src="martycasey.org/emoticons/heart.gif"][/IMG] [img src="martycasey.org/emoticons/heart.gif"][/IMG]

Music has made such a profound difference in our lives and I think that it made a profound difference in 30 kid’s lives when on a Monday afternoon a rock star came to visit them, played music with them, and left them with the gift of music.

Thank you again for making this such a success. And thank you Marty your generosity and giving the children an afternoon they will not soon forget.

Chief Elf,
Liz