2020 is a very special year when it comes to Giving Tuesday.
The entire arts community has been strongly affected by COVID. Venues are closed, musicians, artists, dancers, stagehands are out of work. This Winter looks to be an enhanced challenge as surging cases, weather, new closings, expiring unemployment benefits and eviction relief all combine to test us once again.
This year, FAR-West would like to invite all of you to join us in an intensified focus on “Giving Tuesday”.
Your gifts do not need to be money. Deliver a meal to a needy neighbor, clean their rain gutters, phone or Zoom an isolated friend and sing them a song. Take an instrument you no longer use and give it to someone who needs one. If you engage and ask, someone will surely know a musician who lost their gear when they lost their housing. Check out local assistance efforts in your community. Give thought to the venues who were already struggling to survive and are facing a new challenge with shutdowns and delayed re-openings. Without our treasured venues, there will be few opportunities as the darkness passes and we are able to be together in music again. We are a Village.
We’d like to remind those of our members who are in need that some situations can be addressed with help from our own Folk Musicians’ Relief Fund, if you are eligible.
Download the application form here. The Folk Musicians Relief Fund application.
If you can donate to FAR-West, remember that 100% of your gifts will go to eligible recipients. We are an all volunteer organization and there are no administrative costs deducted from funds donated specifically to FMRF, Larman Scholarship Fund, and ODE (Outreach, Diversity & Education).
Thank you for taking the time to read this. Health and blessings to you all.