We begin the new year with hope and love for the communities in the nation’s capital. We reach out to all volunteers with gratitude and encourage each one to continue sharing music, stories, art, and life experiences with others. Your own personal message may be the very one that reaches someone desperately needing a dose of hope. Be brave, courageous, and strong. You are my heroes!
We are so fortunate to be able to serve! We have played for seniors, mentored Title 1 children in piano, guitar, and music theory, and have met visitors and staff with sounds of beautiful music as they entered and exited hospitals. Returning in person has connected us to a deeper appreciation of how we are changed by those receiving the music, stories, art, and cards. We, too, are lifted by the warm response of seniors to us. Even in their loss of loved ones, sadness, frustration, and despair, they have opened their grateful hearts to say, “Thank you for coming with music that we love!” Hundreds of young volunteers have added holiday songs to their live music performances in Virginia and Maryland. They have played in person at these facilities: Asbury Methodist Village (weekly) Bedford Square Court in Silver Spring Brighton Gardens in Chevy Chase Brightview Fair Oaks Brightview Great Falls Brightview Grosvenor Brookdale in Olney (re-opens January 2022) Eden Home on Gainsborough Road Eden Home on Liberty Lane Harmony at Chantilly Hunters Woods at Trail’s End The Seneca in Rockville Shady Grove Nursing and Rehabilitation Center Oakton Hunter Mill Sunrise Sunrise in Rockville Tall Oaks in Reston Waltonwood Assisted Living Holy Cross Hospital Germantown (weekly) Holy Cross Silver Spring (bi-weekly) National Institutes of Health Clinical Research Center July, August, September, November, December We welcome two new affiliates: A family in Alaska who has received CDs at the Fisher House there has now joined in the live music for the holidays in Anchorage. Needham High School in Massachusetts has established a Tacy Club, thanks to Matthew Weber. They have organized and played music for a senior facility. 497 songs are now posted on the video playlist link sent in the December newsletter. We thank Children’s National Hospital for receiving the Reading Express Video Playlist (141 stories) broadcast directly into children’s hospital rooms. They also have access to the songs from the from the YouTube playlist. Not only did music fill our lives on weekends, but also cards, both homemade and pre- printed, filled the drop boxes in four locations. 4000 cards have been delivered to the above facilities and to other facilities that have not begun live music yet, to the Frederick Health System, and to Johns Hopkins Suburban Hospital in Bethesda. In addition to hospital and senior facilities, the military received 750 hand-delivered cards, 600 USBs of music from teens. First Responders Children’s Foundation received 400 USBs. West Point will receive 250 cards from a Tacy alumnus returning there in January. Many thanks to MCPADNET and to Rolling Hills Recording Studio for their diligence. During the hardships of COVID-related challenges, they continued to offer their services for preparing and shipping items sent to the First Responders’ warehouse in Michigan, to Andrews Joint Base, and to Quantico Marines Joint Base. Congratulations to the amazing Cards Team for organizing and completing the holiday cards projects by Christmas week! Thank you to all those volunteers and their parents taking the initiative to design and deliver on time. Well done!! Thanks also to those who sent email messages of holiday cheer to Alison Boynton, Programs Manager. She has faithfully collected the messages, jokes. coloring books, crossword puzzles each month. Then, she has sent them to Activity Directors of each senior facility. Enjoy stories below from a century ago, from the cards team and from Siddharth Kondam, graduating senior at Wooten High School in Maryland. January brings new possibilities for service!
Happy New Year!
Aiming to spread good cheer to people who would appreciate an uplift is hardly a new
concept, of course. The following link tells a lovely story of volunteers taking such action over a century ago.
(Newspapers.com is associated with ancestry.com.)
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In December, countless Tacy Foundation volunteers participated in our annual Holiday Cards Project. Because of the volume of cards and coordination of delivery of cards, we had two delivery due dates, one in late November and the other in mid-December. The entire project was a huge success! Volunteers donated their time by creating handmade cards and also by writing handmade messages on the beautiful, red-colored, pre-printed Tacy Foundation cards. The pickup and drop-off locations for the cards were in Rockville, Germantown and Clarksburg, Maryland along with Centerville, Virginia. These various locations enabled our volunteers to pick the location that was most convenient for them! Once the cards were dropped off by volunteers, our Cards Team sorted the cards into bags of 90-100 assorted cards per bag. At the Rockville location, Intern Mario Lara read each card and separated the cards with military messages, religious messages, and general non-religious holiday messages. He then sorted the cards so each facility would receive an assortment of 90-100 appropriate cards. Most assorted bags of cards were then initially delivered to Ms. Holliday in Germantown, and then the bags were mailed or delivered to various facilities. Medical facilities included Holy Cross hospitals in Silver Spring and Germantown, Frederick Memorial Hospital, Shady Grove Aquilino Cancer Center in Rockville, Suburban Hospital in Bethesda, NIH Clinical Research Center, and Fisher Houses at Walter Reed National. Military facilities included Andrews Air Force Joint Base, Quantico Marine Base and West Point! We also provided cards to other local subsidized-housing communities. Thank you to all the volunteers who participated in this annual project. A special thank you to our Chief Cards Project Interns Mario Lara, Riona Sheikh, and Matthew Kim for leading the project. Of course, thank you to Ms. Holliday for coordinating all the interactions and delivery with the receiving facilities. In 2022, please continue to support the Cards Projects by participating in our year
around Cheerful Messages for Hospital Patients and of course our other annual projects like Thanking our Military Personnel in May/June/July. Be on the lookout for signups for other cards projects and of course, email us at cards.thetacyfoundation@gmail.com to request information about our projects. -- Karina Willis-Lara, Adult Supervisor for the Cards Team, The Tacy Foundation
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A Volunteer’s Musical Journey
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When I first started playing piano, I hated my weekly lessons. The simple songs I learned were bland and boring. But eventually, I progressed from Hot Cross Buns to Moonlight Sonata. Through time, Mrs. Holliday nurtured my love of the piano and sparked my appreciation for sharing music. I began playing the piano as a volunteer of the Tacy Foundation, sharing music every Sunday with a community of senior citizens at Liberty Lane. I won’t forget the elderly residents’ joyful expressions, when they remembered songs that they last heard 50 years ago, nor the bonds I created. While organizing their seats, I discovered that Mrs. Johnson was adamant about her seat facing away from the piano so she could truly “feel the music.” Her love of music motivated me to perform all the Christmas songs she enjoyed. I learned the residents’ favorite song was “Blue Suede Shoes” when they tapped their feet and sang along as I performed. Their musical preferences kindled my love for Ray Charles and other R&B singers from the ’50s and ’60s. My identity as a pianist has helped me connect with a community I love, enabling me to learn more about myself through my interaction with others. -- Siddharth Kondam
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Educational Mission: Foster youth development through music, story and mentoring Philanthropic Mission: Empower youth to discover and use their gifts in service to others Social Mission: Build community partnerships and create intergenerational connections Whom We Serve Seniors Children Teens Service members Veterans Injured/sick Economically disadvantaged Individuals who want to serve How We Serve (Programs) Live music concerts Reading Express® Piano Pals® Guitar Pals® Composers’ Circle Music USBs Musical equipment COVID projects through video, email, cards, puzzles for outreach to the community Charlotte Holliday, Founder and Executive Director Matthew D. Scott, Graphic Editor Michael Favin, Chief Editor Siddharth Kondam, Teen Editor Ethan Schenker, Teen Editor
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Donations are appreciated. All adult and teen staff are volunteers. No salaries or benefits. Every dollar you donate goes to supplies for all projects offered to the community. Thank you! Donate online via PayPal at: www.tacyfoundation.org. Or send your donation to: The Tacy Foundation Box 2334 Germantown, Maryland 20875 |
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Ask Amazonsmile.org to donate a portion of your order to The Tacy Foundation. The Foundation will receive a small percentage of your purchases. A very easy way to donate at no additional cost to you!
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