Over 200 participants, parents, staff, and supporters marched with Zumix in the two-mile walk around the Fenway area last year
as part of the annual Walk for Music fundraiser. This year’s Walk will kick off at Zumix on Sunday April, 27 at 11 a.m. at the Zumix
Firehouse
On Sunday, April 27 Zumix will participate in Boston’s annual Walk for Music fundraiser, which brings music organizations from all over the city together to help raise money for local arts programs.
Over 200 participants, parents, staff, and supporters will march with Zumix in the two-mile walk around the Fenway area.
So far Zumix has raised $20,335 with the goal of raising $40,000 in donations.
Zumix Founder and Executive Director Madeleine Steczynski said the event has become Zumix’s favorite fundraiser because it involves so many people and gets everyone really excited about supporting a cause that they believe in.
“I want to thank everyone who will be supporting Zumix by walking and donating,” she said.
Eastie residents can still support Zumix by making donations to
https://www.firstgiving.com/zumix/walkformusic.
Founded in 2003, the Walk for Music allows participating team or music program to keep 100 percent of its pledges to support its local music or performing arts program.
In 2011 Zumix won the prestigious National Arts and Humanities Youth Program Award. Zumix staff and participants were invited to the White House to receive the award from First Lady Michelle Obama. The award recognized Zumix for its effectiveness in developing learning and life skills in young people by engaging them in music and the arts.
Zumix was chosen from a pool of more than 471 nominations and 50 finalists, Zumix was one of 12 after-school and out-of-school programs across the country to receive the award, which is the highest honor such programs can receive in the United States.
The awards are administered by the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities (PCAH), in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), and the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS). The award honors community-based arts and humanities programs that make a marked difference in the lives of their participants by improving academic scores and graduation rates, enhancing life skills, developing positive relationships with peers and adults, and expressing themselves creatively.
Zumix was created to empower youth to use music to make strong, positive change in their lives, their communities, and the world. Since its founding in 1991, the program has grown to serve more than 400 young people every year in programs in instrumental instruction, songwriting and performance, community radio, and creative technology. They serve an additional 400 young people per year through in-school partnerships with East Boston High School and the Umana Middle School Academy. The powerful impact of the program is illustrated by the fact that in the past 4 years, 92 percent of its graduates enrolled in college.