By: Jeffrey D. Stauffer – Executive Director – Elville Center for the Creative Arts, Inc.
Last week, I had the pleasure of visiting Mrs. Asgerdur Sigurdardottir, president of the Baltimore Classical Guitar Society. Did you know that Baltimore is a hub for amazing classical guitar in the world and is home to one of the greatest classical guitarists in the world, Manuel Barrueco?
The Baltimore Classical Guitar Society offers many events, competitions, programs and concerts throughout the year. It also offers a groundbreaking “Guitars for Change” program for at-risk youths we’ve discussed in previous charity updates and is adding a new pilot program which will be under the umbrella of “Guitars for Change” – tentatively to be named “Guitars for Veterans.” This new initiative will be in collaboration with Perry Point VA Medical Center in Perry Point, Maryland.
The program will provide veterans in its outpatient program with free acoustic guitars, lessons and accessories in a 10-week program starting in the spring of 2022. This program will be offered in both the spring and fall semesters with a summer course as well. After the veterans complete the 10-week course the guitars will be theirs to keep.
The Elville Center’s Jeff Stauffer and the world famous The Elville Center needs your support to further its important work.
Along with the many classical (nylon-string) guitars the Elville Center has provided the Guitars for Change program over the years, we have begun offering acoustic (steel-string) guitars to the new Guitars for Veterans program. When I met with Mrs. Sigurdardottir last week I delivered eight fully refurbished acoustic and classical guitars for the benefit of the Guitars for Change and Guitars for Veterans programs.
If you have a guitar you would like to donate to the Elville Center, we are actively looking for classical and acoustic guitars to benefit the programs mentioned above. As always, all donations made to the Elville Center are tax-deductible.
I wanted to share one more item about the Guitars for Change program that made my day recently. The following link is a performance by some of the program participants at a recent concert of the beautiful song “Remember Me” from the hit movie “Coco.” Many of the guitars being used were donated by the Elville Center! I encourage you to watch – it will be the best three minutes of your day! You can view it here — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vC-hKrbQmac
On this Giving Tuesday, the Elville Center needs your support to further its important work and help develop new relationships that are depending on the charity. Every one of the refurbished instruments and equipment the Elville Center provides music programs along with educational initiatives we support are not possible without donor support. We need those instruments that you don’t use anymore and are taking up space. And, most importantly, we need your monetary support to help refurbish those instruments, purchase supplies, and facilitate cultural learning experiences for student musicians in need. As a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation, all donations made to the Elville Center are tax-deductible, and as we approach the end of the year, now is an ideal time to consider those end of year donations for tax deduction purposes. To learn more about the Elville Center for the Creative Arts, please visit www.elvillecenter.org, contact me at jeff@elvillecenter.org, or call 443-676-9691. Or, to donate through Paypal or Venmo (@elvillecenter), visit www.elvillecenter/donate. We value and appreciate your support!
