The Flagstaff Blues Festival raises money for music education in our schools

The Flagstaff Blues Festival raises money for music education in our schools

Hi Blues Fans!

Did anyone watch the Grammy’s Sunday night? I did… and guess what? Our Friday Headliner, Cedric Burnside, won for Best Traditional Blues Album!!!

You can see him Friday June 10th! Don’t know who he is, well come on out and find out for yourself and be ready to be blown away!

Today I thought I’d talk about the Charity we are going to be raising money for, a community partnership with the Flagstaff Unified School District Foundation. Through a portion of the festivals proceeds, it will benefit the music programs in the Flagstaff Public School District (FUSD) and inspire kids through music.

FUSDF enhances the educational experience of students in the district, with the help and support of alumni and community resources and funding.  Since 2016, the FUSD Foundation has raised over $74,000, to directly help FUSD and impacting the lives of thousands of students.

We have donated proceeds to other local school music programs in the past to help motivate and inspire kids with music. In recent years we’ve seen funding stripped from public school budgets that support music programs. So this funding goes a long way.

“We are excited to partner with the Flagstaff Blues and Brews and gratefully welcome their donation to the music programs in the Flagstaff Unified School District,” said Mandy Metzger, President of the FUSD Foundation Board.  “These donations will help the foundation support students with increased access to musical instruments and instruction.  We know that when our kids participate in musical programs, their academic achievement increases along with their satisfaction with school and community.”

Since the festival’s beginnings 8 years ago, we’ve donated over $65,000 to local music and arts education programs.  This partnership with FUSDF will ensure the funds are now directly benefiting those music programs often times forgotten in the budget process.

It was always my mother’s passion to be sure that any child that wanted to learn how to play an instrument be able to do so. I’m carrying this on by partnering with the Flagstaff Unified School District. I have been chatting with some of the music teachers about their needs, and the list is VERY long! I’m hopefully we will be able to make a dent in their needs.

Until next week…
Jen