I sincerely hope you and your family are well. While we’re all trying to cope as our world is turned upside down, it’s important that we remember all the young girls and boys who were struggling to survive and heal their shattered lives long before anyone ever heard of COVID-19. They are still out there, and they are still struggling.
In the past two weeks I’ve had to postpone Lost Voices Programs with the kids and two fundraising concerts that were scheduled to happen before the end of April. Losing the fundraising events is bad news for us as an organization, but losing those opportunities to work with the kids is just plain heartbreaking. I want to let you know that Lost Voices is not just sitting around and waiting for the crisis to be over.
For one thing, I’m exploring a way to bring some version of our songwriting workshops to the Lost Voices kids safely and remotely; to create a Virtual Lost Voices. Right now I’m simply exploring options, and the idea may not turn out be feasible, but so far I have extremely positive feedback on the concept from the facilities where we work with the kids.
We should also remember that the musicians who do the front-line Lost Voices work all rely heavily or entirely on income from live performances, and all those gigs have been cancelled. Thanks to the long-term generosity of our supporters – like you – we were able to advance some of the money they would have received for the workshops we were forced to postpone, the balance to be paid to the musicians when we are able to complete the postponed workshops.
So we also need to get back to our fundraising chores. Among other things, I’m looking into the idea of putting together an Online Concert for Lost Voices in the next few weeks, in which we can showcase our artists and share the Lost Voices story with the world. Again, this is just in the thinking and asking questions stage right now. If you have specific technical expertise that would help us with either the Virtual Lost Voices Program or the Online Concert, please contact me.
If you would like to help out with “virtual fundraising,” like a Facebook Birthday Campaign, and you don’t know where to start, contact me and I’ll walk you through it.
This is a hard time for all of us, but it has occurred to me that our parents or grandparents survived the Great Depression, then they had to turn around and fight World War II. In the process they went another step and crafted a better world for everyone. Now it’s our turn. Every day I’m watching people from all walks of life looking out for each other in ways and to an extent that I’ve never seen before. Keep up the good work!
Stay safe, and stay healthy,
– mike
