Tacy volunteers who loved teaching children for the Piano Pals® and Guitar Pals® program have a reason to celebrate! They can continue their volunteer work all summer long.
“Fox Chapel Elementary School has generously offered to open their school weekday mornings in July for Summer Piano Pals,” announced Tacy Foundation Founder Charlotte Holliday. “I plan to organize Piano Pals and Guitar Pals to run concurrently on the mornings where there are enough children to establish a class.”
Tacy Volunteers who want to teach this summer at Fox Chapel need to be able to make a four week commitment. They will need to be available to teach at least one day a week on Monday, Wednesday or Friday in July from 10 to 11:30 am. A free lunch will be provided.
“Please tell your piano and guitar friends who will be in town this summer to contact us for an invitation and application to serve,” said Charlotte Holliday. “This is a great time to train and to improve mentoring skills Seasoned mentors are invaluable for training others. Interested volunteers can send an email to thetacyfoundation@gmail.com to receive an invitation to participate.
The Tacy Foundation provides free music lessons to children at Title I schools, and is entirely supported by donations. Qualifying families who cannot afford to pay for lessons receive music lessons in this program. The contributions to Piano Pals® provide music books and keyboards used to teach the children. The Tacy Foundation recruits talented young musicians from sixth grade to senior high to teach the children.
Charlotte Holliday herself is volunteering as an adult site mentor for the Summer Piano Pals program at Fox Chapel.
“Will you join me in this adventure?” She asks. “Should enough teens volunteer to staff one or more mornings a week, we will work together to make an unforgettable experience for some special children. I would love to get to know you better this summer.”
The Foundation also needs student volunteers for a special project involving seniors. The Tacy Foundation volunteers have long performed free concerts for residents of senior centers and nursing homes. Now the Foundation would like to recruit students to listen to members of this special audience.
The Tacy Foundation is looking for students who would like to spend a summer interviewing seniors who attend our concerts to discover their life stories and learn about the songs that have been meaningful to them throughout their lifetime. What they learn will be instrumental in searching for the music that will have special meaning to seniors. The songs that the seniors love will restore their memory and remind them of those times when they were young and powerful. The project may become a special personalized history book recording the experiences of these seniors. It will also become a valuable resource for young musicians to learn the music of their progenitors.
Student volunteers who want to participate in this activity will need to attend an orientation. Maryland volunteers should plan to attend their orientation at Shady Grove Adventist Hospital on June 15 from 5 to 6 pm. Virginia volunteers will have their orientation at Community of Christ Church on 5610 Inverchapel Road in Springfield, Virginia on June 16 at 12:30 PM. Additional dates will be offered if there is sufficient interest with Maryland’s date being June 22 and Virginia’s date being June 23.