Do you shop at Stop & Shop? Have a weekly delivery from Peapod? Do you have friends and family in the mid-Atlantic area?
Friends of Music – Lyme/Old Lyme, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization whose mission is to support the music programs at all levels in Region 18 (Lyme and Old Lyme) schools, is now selling Stop & Shop “Cash for Causes” gift cards. These cards can be used at any Stop & Shop store, for Peapod delivery, and at affiliated stores (Giant, Martins) in other states. They do not expire, and have no service fees … and Friends of Music receives 5 percent of each card’s face value.
This sale of Stop & Shop cards is one of several fundraisers that Friends of Music is conducting this year in its effort to help defray the cost of the Lyme – Old Lyme High School Music Department trip in December. On Dec. 7, high school bands and choruses from the United States and Japan will gather in Hawaii to perform at ceremonies marking the 75th anniversary of the bombing of Pearl Harbor and the beginning of United States involvement in World War II.
Among those school groups will be 105 members of the Lyme–Old Lyme High School Band and Chorus, the only school in Connecticut — and one of only two from New England — to be participating in the event.
These student musicians will perform together on the pier of the Battleship Missouri, a World-War II–era ship that was engaged in the battles of Iwo Jima and Okinawa. It was on the Missouri, in Tokyo Bay in September 1945, that the papers of surrender were signed by representatives of the Allied and Axis powers — formally ending World War II.
The Missouri is now docked in Pearl Harbor as a permanent memorial and museum, providing a fitting bookend to the story of the bombing on Dec. 7, 1941, that launched US involvement in the war. Lyme – Old Lyme High School Chorus and Band members, along with Choral Director Kristine Pekar and Band Director Jacob Wilson, are busy preparing for this performance, which will demonstrate how cultures once opposed can come together to present a musical gift to the world.
There is a substantial cost for this trip, and Friends of Music is committed to raising funds to help cover these costs. Other events and projects under way are an online auction March 26–April 9, a huge tag sale in May, and a 5K road race in July.
Information on each of these projects can be found on the Friends of Music facebook page (“Friends of Music – Lyme/Old Lyme Schools”) and on our website, www.friendsofmusiclol.org.
For more information, e-mail [email protected]. As a registered 501(c)3) nonprofit organization, Friends of Music can accept matching funds from employers.
To purchase Stop & Shop “cash for causes” gift cards from Friends of Music, watch for our table at various school events, or contact the project coordinators: Michelle Maskell ([email protected]) or Rachel Carrion ([email protected]); information is also available on www.friendsofmusiclol.org.