Giving the gift of music with help from promotional luggage tags
Music 4 More knows how the gift of music can strike the right note for those in need. So rather than letting unused musical instruments sit idle, the organization turns them into a treasure for students in struggling schools and community music programs. Recently, the organization found a way to use promotional luggage tags to spread awareness.
Launching a love of music
The idea for Music 4 More sprang from the most unlikely of places—a cruise ship. “A friend of mine invited me to come on a concert cruise,” said President and Founder Deidra Stevens. “And through that I reconnected to music for the first time in years. When I was younger, I used to go to concerts all the time and was in band, and I had lost touch with it.”
As she rekindled her love of music, Stevens also wanted to help kids connect with music the way she had in school. “I remembered how important my high school music program was,” Stevens said. “They were my friends, and they were my tribe. I wanted to help kids who couldn’t afford to be in that group.”
That cruise—and that passion for music—became Music 4 More, which to date has presented schools and students with more than 850 recycled instruments.
Beyond the classroom
In addition to providing recycled instruments to students, Music 4 More has found other ways to share the love of music. They have purchased new instruments for those in need. The organization also hopes to add a rental program for low-income students and develop a web platform where teachers can create wish lists.
In 2012, Music 4 More also launched Music 4 Vets, a sub-organization that donates instruments to veterans and active military for use in music therapy programs. “With the vets, there are a lot of amazing things they’re doing with music therapy,” Stevens said. “And we want to give them a way to connect with music by, say, giving them a guitar so they can take guitar lessons, and share musical experiences with other people.”
Spreading the word with promotional luggage tags
As a recipient of a 4imprint one by one® grant, Music 4 More will be attaching Rectangle Luggage Tags to future instruments they donate. “We split the order in half between our two organizations,” Stevens said. “We wanted to get luggage tags to attach to the instruments, which will share our logo and help make more people aware of our organization, whether they’re people who have a need or people who want to help us with donations.”
A note from Cheryl:
For many, music helps us connect with others and calms our emotions. We are so happy to have been a small part of Music 4 More’s mission to share the gift of music with help from promotional luggage tags through our one by one grant program. For more information, visit onebyone.4imprint.com.