Being part of the band programs here at Mountain Lakes High School has been one of the most enjoyable experiences of my life, but many of us take for granted the fact that we have such easy access to musical instruments and a proper musical education while many young musicians don’t have the opportunities that we do. Here at Mountain Lakes, every student is able to play their own school instrument, and can even take them home to practice any day. Unfortunately, however, many schools aren’t able to provide all of their students with instruments, and that’s why I, Donovan Menard, am carrying out my Eagle Scout project to collect used instruments for Garfield Middle School, and I need your help.
Garfield Middle School only owns nine school instruments to provide for the 82 students enrolled in their band program. According to their band director, Jessica D’Elia, the rest of the students either borrow instruments, rent them, or purchase them off the internet. Many of them aren’t able to afford decent instruments and as a result have to buy instruments of very poor quality.
Playing an instrument that barely functions drastically impedes and limits a student’s potential to progress in their musical ability while enjoying being part of a band. In a recent interview with Ms. D’Elia, she lamented that “it hurts that I don’t have enough instruments to provide these kids with something to play . . . to provide them this opportunity to be a part of a band, something that they really want to do. And if I could give them the opportunities that I was presented with as a student . . . It would make me very happy.”
With your help, we can gather enough instruments to give these students the chance to experience the benefits of playing their own instrument in a band and the opportunity to improve and excel on their instrument of choice. If you’ve been in one of the school bands in previous years and quit, you might still have your old instrument lying around somewhere, collecting dust, and this would be a fantastic cause to give it to. If you live in Morris County and own any musical instruments that you no longer play, then please consider donating them to this cause.
Ms. D’Elia is willing to accept “anything that someone is willing to give us, but specifically we play wind and percussion instruments, so anything along those lines would be very helpful.” She also says that she has had an especially difficult time trying to obtain any flutes, clarinets, or low brass to build the band’s sound pyramid, so any of those instruments would be greatly appreciated, as well as any mallet percussion (xylophones, marimbas, et cetera), as she wants to expose her students to pitched percussion rather than only drums.
To donate to this cause, email me at donovanrmenard@gmail.com and we can arrange to pick up the instrument from your home or for you to drop it off– whichever works better for you. The deadline for instrument donations will be February 2, 2018.
If you don’t have any instruments to donate but want to help out, then please help spread the word about this project. Tell your friends, family, and especially any musicians who you think might have an extra instrument to donate. I also have a promotional video and a flier circulating on social media, so please consider sharing those in any way you can; I would really appreciate that.
If everyone helps out, we can successfully give the students of Garfield Middle School an opportunity and an experience that they will likely value and remember for their entire lives.
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