The Gazette-Democrat ran this story on April 10, 2017:

The Dongola School band was recently selected as a recipient of a grant from the Mockingbird Foundation for $10,000 to be used towards the purchase of new instruments.

The Mockingbird Foundation, an all-volunteer nonprofit founded and run entirely by fans of the band Phish, announced 12 new grants totaling $81,000 in support of music education for children. 

The grants come from Mockingbird’s 21st round of competitive grant-making, include support from several band-related charities, and bring the Foundation’s total disbursements to more than $1.1 million.

Three of the grants have been doubled, including Dongola’s, with the support of funds from the band’s own WaterWheel Foundation. 

Four were made possible by matching funds from the Kristy Anastasio Manning Memorial Fund. 

Combined, these partners provided over $27,000, in addition to Mockingbird’s $54,000 contribution. 

The funding partnership among the three organizations started last fall, and organizers hope that it will hopefully augment grants for years to come.

The 12 grant recipients were selected from among more than 955 initial applicants who requested a total of more than $2.5 million, far beyond the foundation’s resources.