Our tenth charitable organization is Little Kids Rock. The spark for the organization has been around since 1996 when David Wish, an elementary school teacher, grew frustrated with the lack of funding for music education at his school. He began offering an after-school guitar class to interested students and the program expanded. Six years later, in 2002, with support from the legendary BB King and John Lee Hooker, Little Kids Rock was born.
Little Kids Rock provides music instruction and free instruments for public school students affected by budget cuts. The program focuses on popular music styles that most students already listen to, including rock, blues, rap and hip-hop. Heavy emphasis is put on composition, improvisation and recording, and kids regularly get to record their own music, create CDs – even make their own rock videos.
Why does this matter? Kids who are exposed to music perform better in school: students in high-quality school music education programs score higher on standardized tests compared to students in schools with deficient music education programs, regardless of the socioeconomic level of community. Kids who play an instrument are 52% more likely to go to college. They’re also less likely to get into trouble: a report released by the Texas Commission on Drug and Alcohol Abuse found that students involved in courses beyond the required ‘basics’ were less likely to be involved with drugs. The study went on to show that: “secondary students who participated in Band or Orchestra reported the lowest lifetime and current use of all substances” including alcohol, tobacco, marijuana or any illicit drug.
You already know that this topic resonates with me. The music program in my children’s public school in Philadelphia was cut this year. My school no longer has a full time music teacher. My youngest children have music classes once a week. My oldest child (in the 4th grade) doesn’t have music at all; there was no holiday recital for her this year. That’s not okay. It’s not okay for my children’s school – and it’s not okay for schools around the country. That’s why Little Kids Rock, nominated by a fellow mom, earned a spot on our list this year.
You can make a donation by clicking here.
You can also mail a check to:
Little Kids Rock
632 Pompton Ave. Suite 2
Cedar Grove, NJ 07009
There’s also an online shop. Proceeds from the shop go to supporting efforts to bring music education to children in public schools.
A search at irs.gov (which I highly recommend any time you are considering making a donation) confirms that Little Kids Rock is on the IRS list of charitable organizations as a public charity.
For tax tips to keep in mind when making charitable gifts, check out this prior post.
