Dear Supporters,
The Sing Me a Story Foundation is poised for a monumental 2016 and we are honored to be involved with The GVI Charitable Trust.
The year of 2015 was a year of growth for Sing Me a Story and also a year of media coverage that we received. All of this coverage helps us to expand the reach of our work. It helps us get more songwriters as well as reaching more children in need.
In the spring, Sing Me a Story was featured on News Channel 5 in Nashville which covered our work with Alive Hospice. It was a beautiful segment and demonstrated the invaluable service we provide families facing some of life's greatest challenges. Watch the segment to see for yourself.
From there, The Today Show featured Sing Me a Story on their website showcasing how we are able to help children dealing with a tragedy. Then, People Magazine ran a story on us as part of their ‘Heroes Among Us’ section of their publication which is a great summary of the amazing work that Austin and his team of musicians do. Austin, our Executive Director also was interviewed on a handful of radio stations including NPR's WBEZ in Chicago, NPR's WUWM in Milwaukee and Nashville's Independent Radio Station - Lightning 100.
Currently, we work with over 1700 songwriters worldwide and over 80 organizations serving children in need. The Today Show has filmed a segment on us and upon its airing, we hope to attract the interest of many more musicians and artists who would appreciate the opportunity to bring the voices of children in need to the world through music.
We have started working more closely with GVI Costa Rica on implementing our program into their existing program in Quepos. We are very exciting to begin our work with GVI Costa Rican in earnest and hope to possibly make it down for a visit sometime in 2016.
We have a lot of wonderful things happening in 2016 and we look forward to growing our relationship with The GVI charitable trust. We feel so lucky to have their support and look forward to a great year ahead.
Thank you all so much!
With Gratitude,
Austin, Sing me a Story Foundation
Links:
Dear Supporter,
This month I would like to tell you the story about "Cyril and Swiper".
This story came to us via one of our partners, Kaeme. Kaeme seeks to build loving families, one child at a time. They work on breaking down the barriers that prevent orphaned or abandoned children from leaving institutions and entering family-based care. As part of this process, Kaeme volunteer teams work hand-in-hand with the Ghanaian Department of Social Welfare to survey orphanages country-wide as part of the Care Reform Initiative.
Cycil wrote this story about his encounter with a big, bad dog called Swiper. 'Swiper's a dog and he's huge and he's large and his barking makes Cyril feel scared'. His tale centers around facing his fear of Swiper while on an errand to buy fish from the market. Can you believe that Mama sent Cyril out to buy fish just after Swiper had cased him?
His story was turned into this amazing song by Jacob Chapman.
If you're keen to find out what happens to Cyril and Swiper, have a listen here, on the Sing me a Story Foundation website.
It is sure to bring a smile to your face.
Thank you for your support, helping us bring songs to children!
With Gratitude,
Sing me a Story Foundation
Links:
Dear Supporter,
Chyna is an 11-year-old girl from Nashville. Chyna's story was submitted to us here at Sing me a Story via one of our partner organisations, the Gilda's Club. They are an affiliate of the Cancer Support Community and are dedicated to providing support, education and hope to all people affected by cancer.
Chyna writes a story about her 3 wishes, called The 3 wishes! wishes! wishes! This is how it goes.
I went to the store one day and thought to myself, man my life is hard!
Then I went home that night and laid in bed. I peeped out my window and saw 3 special shooting stars. I said a wish for each of the stars. The first wish was for fame. The second wish was for fortune. The third wish was to meet some celebreties.
The next day somethng magical and unreal happened! My first wish came true. "Hey! You're the girl that sang at that corner shop!" "Yes, I am..." Then everyone came running to her with paper and pen asking for autographs. She was instantly famous!
She was walking the next day and found $100,000 on the ground. She was instantly rich!
Then the last day she won a competition. She got to meet 5 of her favourite celebrities!
Then she realised all her wishes came true! She lived happily ever after!
If you would like to see the pictures that go with the pictures that go with Chyna's story and hear the song that has been written to go with it, have a look here: https://singmeastory.org/stories/chyna-s-story
With Gratitude,
GVI-Charitable Trust
Links:
Dear Supporter,
I thought I would take this opportunity to remind all of you what we do and why we do it.
We aim to give a voice to voiceless children. Even though a child may be in a difficult situation, they still have the most powerful and pure imaginations, and this is what we aim to capture. We do this by capturing snippets using the incredible imagination of the children. Music has the ability to carry those messages across borders, stigmas and stereotypes. We believe that these messages, expressed as music, can foster greater compassion, healing and peace for the children.
We believe that music has an incredible power, and that in conjunction with other therapy, is a valuable and important resource that we can tap into.
Recently we have signed on 13 Ronald McDonald Houses and 6 Gilda's Clubs across the US. These partnerships help us to expand the scope of our work.
Here are some examples of stories that have been submitted to Sing me a Story recently.
You can look and listen to The Blue Macaw, by Nailah, aged 6.Hanadi, 7, from Ronald McDonald House, decided to write a story about her
Hanadi, 7, from Ronald McDonald House, decided to write a story about her cat!
The imagination really has no limit and it is incredible to see the wonderful things that children can come up with!
Thank you for your support!
Best Wishes,
The Charitable Trust
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Dear Supporter,
Wonderful news! Sing Me a Story was recently featured in an in-depth segment on News Channel 5 in Nashville.
The segment was about Amelia and her sister Annabel who has Tay-Sachs disease and how her family's lives were enriched with music. Amelia has been working on a storybook for her little sister over the past several months, which Sing Me a Story has recently turned into a song to give the family a permanent keepsake.
Each song the Sing Me a Story foundation creates becomes part of a fundraising campaign, with half of the money going to program costs, and the other half going to the partner agency that worked with the child to create the song.
Annabel’s parents, Casey and Tommy, said they wanted to find a way to help Amelia cope with feelings she may experiencing about her sister as the disease progresses. Amelia’s social worker, from Alive Hospice, said projects like Amelia’s book about Annabel can help with that.
Nashville musician Treva Blomquist was tasked with crafting Amelia’s story about Annabel into a song, and then recording it in a Nashville music studio. More than three months after Amelia began writing, the family was presented with the final version of the song called, “I Have You Today.”
“Treva just got it all right,” Casey said after listening to the song, with tears in her eyes. “Everything that’s in her heart, she got it.”
Thank you for your continued support on this project.
All the best
GVI Charitable Trust
Links:
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