The Mockingbird Foundation, an all-volunteer nonprofit organization founded by Phish fans, has announced ten new grants, totaling $40,751, supporting music education for children. The grants come from the Mockingbird Foundation’s 15th round of competitive grant-making, and bring total Mockingbird disbursements to over $700,000.

These newest grants support programs at six schools and four non-profit organizations in eight states:

• $5,000 for scholarships to the Student to Student program at Connecticut Percussive Arts Society (Bridgeport, CT)
• $5,000 for instruments for the Rural Music Corps at Ethos (Portland, OR)
• $4,716 for equipment for the Rock and Rhythm Band at Jefferson Middle School (Albuquerque, NM)
• $2,500 for computer software and related items for a Music Technology class at Lindley Sixth Grade Academy (Mableton, GA)
• $5,000 for equipment for the Create and Perform! program at Michigan Opera Theatre (Detroit, MI)
• $5,000 for instruments for the band program at Oakland School District (Oakland, OR)
• $5,000 for instruments for Peer Power at Shelby Middle School (Boyle, MS)
• $3,535 for staffing for the Primal Connection troubled-teen percussion education program of Avon Park Youth Academy (Sebring, FL)
• $5,000 for instruments for the Elementary Rock Band at  Walnut Canyon Performing Arts & Technology Magnet School (Moorpark, CA)
• $5,000 for scholarships to Aswat Youth at Zawaya (San Mateo, CA)

These ten grantees were selected from among 1,149 initial applicants who requested a total of more than $4.6 million. Due to such high demand, the Foundation’s two-tiered online application process remains one of the most competitive in the nation. Please consider making a fully tax-deductible donation through the Foundation’s website at www.mbird.org so that we can continue to increase the percentage of applicants whom we are ultimately able to fund.

The Mockingbird Foundation, run entirely by volunteers, supports music education for children by fundraising through Phish-related projects. The Foundation, a 501(c)3 nonprofit, was organized by Phish fans in 1996, formally incorporated in 1997, and has since then distributed over $710,000 through 219 grants in 43 states.

The Foundation is also the leading provider of historical information about Phish and its music, having cultivated intellectual property through www.phish.net since 1994 and having published two editions of the popular trade paperback books The Phish Companion: A Guide to the Band and Their Music. The Foundation is able to disburse more than 98% of the funds raised to important and innovative programs serving diverse populations.

Phish is a rock band that started in 1983 and grew to become one of the highest-grossing live acts in the nation. For more information about Phish, please visit phish.com and phish.net.

-30-

This is an ideal time to make a tax-deductible donation to the Foundation. If you do it prior to January, you’ll be able to claim the deduction on this year’s taxes. And if you do it in the next few weeks, you’ll help increase the number of grants that we’ll be able to make in Round 15.

The following words in memorial were shared with us by friend Dan Lewis:

Recently the Phish community lost the life of one of its brightest stars, Victor Harris. He was a loving son and twin brother to his sister. He loved his family very much and they were his first priority in his life. Aside from his mother and sister, his friends and music were the other two most important things in his life. He played the bass and fiddled with guitar and drums, playing in a handful of small bands and endless, friendly musical get togethers. He was a true medium and channel for music and sharing it with his friends, loved ones, and anyone who would listen was one of his greatest passions.

In particular, like for so many of his other friends, Phish was held nearest and dearest to his heart as he shared so many memories and made so many friends in his years of touring and seeing shows. His signature red hair, infectious smile, and radiant positive energy made him unmistakable and one of a kind. Throughout his life but especially at shows, he never wore anything but a huge smile on his face and was loved and revered by a far-reaching number of people in our circle. He was one of the guys who always went to the shows and knows all the other people who are always going. The music of Phish is the tie that binded so many relationships in his incredible life. He gave and shared his energy and love through dancing and positive vibrations with anyone and everyone he would meet on his musical journeys. He saw each show as the greatest gift and truly felt that each one was the best show ever.

His life was taken from us on December 22, 2011, after being in a tragic car accident while working on December 17. With the consent of his family he was able to help save six lives through the gift of organ donation. In his passing, he was able to give so much to so many as he did everyday throughout the course of his life. His upcoming plans were to be where he always was every year. He would be spending the holidays with his family, followed by going to all four nights at Madison Square Garden to be with his friends and see his favorite band. It is safe to say that many hundreds of people who knew him, if not into the thousands of those who had heard and prayed for a fellow phan , will be coming together at Madison Square to celebrate, honor and remember his life. It is inspiring and powerful to think of how wide of an impact one person had on so many members of the fanbase. As always, the coming together as a community and healing through the power of love and music will get us through these difficult times. His spirit will continue to live on through the music via his many friends, the love we all share of him and memories of the endless musical adventures we shared together.

May he forever rest in peace.
Victor Harris 05/17/79 – 12/22/2011

The nucleus for the package involves $1,000 each for Joplin High School and Irving Elementary School in Joplin, MO, which will balloon to $16,000 through matches of cash and credit. Music programs in Joplin were decimated May 22^nd when the single most destructive tornado since 1947 killed 134 people and wiped out 30% of the town, including 7,000 homes, the hospital, the high school’s auditorium and music room, and all of Irving Elementary. Those two donations, from the Mockingbird Foundation, will be matched in three ways. First, the Mimi Fishman Foundation, with whom Mockingbird has partnered on several occasions, has already sent $2,000 to the Joplin Relief Fund, to be directed to the same two schools Mockingbird is supporting. Second, both the Mockingbird and Mimi Fishman donations will be doubled through generous local matching offers; the Mockingbird donation will be doubled by the Oasis Foundation, as will any donation you make during the month of September. Third, Jupiter Band Instruments will be matching that doubled amount with an additional $8,000 contribution to music programs in Joplin, MO, in the form of discounted instruments and equipment – as well as the possibility of demos and extra inventory, in addition to the credit match.

To boot, the Mockingbird Foundation has made nine additional grants of $1,000 each for the repair and/or replacement of instruments, equipment, sheet music, and related materials at additional schools affected by recent disasters:

• North Ridgeville Middle School in Ridgeville, OH, where the worst damage from flooding February 28^th hit the music room, destroying instruments.
• Tushka Elementary School in Tushka, OK, where a twister April 14^th destroyed all  of the schools in town, including the elementary school’s keyboarding program.
• Page Middle School in Gloucester, VA, which lost instruments when the band room was destroyed by an April 16^th tornado that also destroyed homes and killed three residents.
• Alberta Elementary School and University Place Elementary School in Tuscaloosa, AL, destroyed by tornados April 27^th
• Ringgold High School in Ringgold, GA, where an April 27^th tornado destroyed the high school, whose band equipment is not covered by insurance.
• Tiger Creek Elementary School in Tunnel Hill, GA, where, after state cuts for the arts, the music program had been run by volunteers organized by former principal  and 86-year-old Marine Rhea McClanahan, who was killed when his house, like much of Tiger Creek, was destroyed in the April 27^th storms.
• Additionally, the Foundation is working to identify two music programs in Vermont that were impacted last week by Hurricane Irene. (It takes some time to assess damages and identify needs; so far, the music programs at all schools contacted have survived unscathed.)

The Mockingbird grants come from an Emergency Fund created in May 2006, whereby 3% of the Foundation’s gross revenues are designated for music education programs affected by disasters. “While disaster relief generally is outside our primary mission,” explained Executive Director Ellis Godard, “we can provide some immediate assistance towards restoring music programs. And we know that music, and education generally, can help provide the hope and relief which are particularly valuable at times such as this.”

Though smaller than the Foundation’s competitive grants maximum ($5,000) and far from sufficient to resolve the problems they target, these “emergency grants” are intended to help bring attention to their recipients’ unique needs and to remind potential donors about the importance of music education in the lives of underage disaster victims. “The children affected by these disasters need music now more than ever,” added Mockingbird President Marco Walsh. “We look forward to students in each of these communities learning and playing music again, as soon as possible.”

The Mockingbird Foundation, Inc. was incorporated in 1997 by fans of the band Phish  to raise funds for music education. With no salaries, staff, office, or endowment, it exists almost exclusively online, using the Internet for publicity, fundraising, all internal communications, and even to develop, produce, and distribute intellectual property. The Foundation is the leading provider of historical information about Phish and its music, having cultivated intellectual property through www.phish.net since 1994. The Foundation is able to disburse more than 98% of the funds raised to important and innovative programs serving diverse populations. The Foundation’s two-tiered application process (which does not include emergency grants) remains one of the most competitive in the nation, due to high demand and because of the niches it serves. Please consider making a fully tax-deductible donation through the Foundation’s website at www.mbird.org.

Phish is a rock band that started in 1983 and grew to become one of the highest-grossing live acts in the nation. The band donates a portion of proceeds from digital download sales at LivePhish.com to the Mockingbird Foundation, but has no formal or informal role in the Foundation’s management or operations. Phish will perform a special show on September 14^th benefitting Vermont victims of Irene, through the Waterwheel Foundation and the Vermont Community Foundation. For more information about Phish, please visit phish.net and phish.com.

#33#

These are beautiful 11×17 digital prints on 100lb felted cover, all hand drawn and hand done type, signed by fabulous artist Erin Cadigan, featuring a mockingbird dealing four Aces representing Phish’s instruments, while the Phamily watches from the background, and a whirl pool of fish bones and eyeballs swirls about.

Prints numbered 10, 12, 13, 14, 15, 17, 18, and 19 being auctioned one at a time, starting with the lowest number (10). Each auction runs 3 days, followed immediately by the subsequent auction for the next number.

ALL proceeds go directly to the Mockingbird Foundation, an all-volunteer, Phan-run non-profit that funds music education for children.

Bidding for print #10 begins… now!

The tournament will be limited to 100 players (including bounty players), and it will be played during the afternoon of the 10th. The blinds and chip stacks will be structured so that nobody will miss a note of Phish.The entry fee will once again be $120, and at least half of that amount will go directly into the prize pool, with the remainder to be donated to The Mockingbird Foundation after accounting for tournament expenses. The tournament also will again be run by volunteers, including Kevin Young, Jamey Brill, and Charlie Dirksen, who organized the first Phamily Poker Classic last year in Atlantic City. Non-cash prizes will be raffled off during the tournament, and every player will receive a limited edition custom poster created by artist Jon Lamb of Like Minded Productions. Twenty of the posters will be signed and numbered by the artist, and printed on archival quality paper, and the final table’s players will each receive this special edition of the poster in the number that they are eliminated (e.g., tenth place will receive poster No. 10).

Tickets will be available through www.phamilypokerclassic.com beginning Monday, May 9th, at noon eastern time. If you played in this event last year and enjoyed it, please help us sell this event out by telling other fans about your experience! We hope that you will join us again and make this event as special as the original Phamily Poker Classic. With your continued support, these events hopefully will become common whenever Phish performs in poker-friendly towns.

Please see www.phamilypokerclassic.com for additional information. Also, if you or your business are interested in donating non-cash prizes to this event, please email Charlie at charlie@phish.net. Your contributions would be enormously appreciated. If you have any questions about the event itself, please email phamilypokerclassic@gmail.com.

These newest grants support programs at two schools and four non-profit organizations, in six states (including the first Mockingbird grant in West Virginia):

• $4,000 for instrument purchases at Mae Eanes Middle School‘s Band Program (Mobile, AL)
• $2,500 for scholarships at The Symphony Women’s Association‘s First Music Lessons for Underserved Children (Tuscon, AZ), to support weekly classes on songwriting and improvisation
• $5,000 for scholarships at Bay Area Girls Rock‘s Girls Rock Summer Camp and Girls Rock After School Program (Oakland, CA)
• $5,000 for staffing at The Swope Music Program of Swope Corridor Renaissance/Upper Room, Inc. (Kansas City, MO)
• $5,000 for staffing at the Brooklyn Community Arts and Media High School‘s Beats Music Program (Brooklyn, NY)
• $4,800 for materials and supplies for Step by Step, Inc.’s Rock Camp 4 Girls Appalachia (Charleston, WV)

The Mockingbird Foundation, run entirely by volunteers, supports music education for children by fundraising through Phish-related projects. The Foundation, a 501(c)3 nonprofit, was organized by Phish fans in 1996, formally incorporated in 1997, and has since then distributed over $648,000 through 198 grants in 43 states.

The Foundation is also the leading provider of historical information about Phish and its music, having cultivated intellectual property through www.phish.net since 1994. The Foundation is able to disburse more than 98% of the funds raised to important and innovative programs serving diverse populations. Due to high demand, the Foundation’s two-tiered application process remains one of the most competitive in the nation. Please consider making a fully tax-deductible donation through the Foundation’s website at www.mbird.org.

Phish is a rock band that started in 1983 and grew to become one of the highest-grossing live acts in the nation. For more information about Phish, please visit phish.net and phish.com

The purpose or purposes for which the Corporation is to be formed are as follows: To engage in the study, publication, distribution and dissemination of books and other published materials in written, electronic and/or recorded form concerning the music, history, performances and biographies of the musical group Phish and other contemporary popular musical groups and performers, and on such related areas of interest as the technical aspects of the tape recording of live concert music; to hold and deal in the copyrights, trademarks and other indicia of intellectual property protecting the work products produced by those collectively engaged in such study and publication: to distribute any net income from the publication of such published or licensed materials for such qualified not-for-profit charitable, educational, cultural or other purposes as may be permitted by law and as the directors of the corporation deem to be consistent with the purposes of this corporation and the public interest. To do any other act or thing incidental to or connected with the foregoing purposes or in advancement thereof, but not for the pecuniary profit or financial gain of its members, directors, or officers….

In the ensuing years, the Mockingbird Foundation has distributed 193 grants, in 42 states, totalling more than $620,000.

This coming Monday, the Foundation will announce recipients of grants in its 14th round of competitive funding. In coming weeks, we’ll announce several new efforts, and look forward to your participation in them.

The board members, working groups, and volunteers associated with Mockingbird appreciate your many years of support, and look forward to continuing our efforts for decades to come.