In celebration of Phish’s four-show New Year’s Eve run at Madison Square Garden (Dec 28, 29, 30, & 31), the all-volunteer and fan-run Mockingbird Foundation has announced that it is sending an unsolicited $1,000 Tour Grant each to four music education programs nearby:
- P721X Stephen D. McSweeney OTC of Bronx, NY, for microphones (with cables and stands), an electric guitar, and an amp.
- NYCDOE of Far Rockaway, Queens, NY, for bongos, shakers, flutes, props, iPads, costumes, and other instruments
- P10X of Bronx, NY, for adapted instruments for students with fine and gross motor difficulties.
- Robert F Wagner Middle School 167 of New York, NY, for a Fender electric bass, strings, bow, and rosin.
This is the 26th round of unsolicited Tour Grants, an effort that now totals over $268,000, which is 11% of all disbursements made by the foundation. These grants are part of a long-standing effort to help support music education in the local communities that Phish touches. They follow Mockingbird’s largest competitive grant round ever, and a total of 66 grants this past summer alone!
The Mockingbird Foundation is an all-volunteer, fan-founded and -managed 501(c)3 nonprofit organization supporting music education for children. A leading grantmaker in music education for children, the Foundation has now made 661 grants in all 50 states, totaling more than $2.3M. Funds for grants are generated through donations from a loyal base of fans, as well as through books, recordings, artwork, merchandise, and special events. Mockingbird is the leading provider of historical information about Phish and its music, having cultivated intellectual property through phish.net (and three associated books, so far) since 1994. The Foundation has been operated entirely by volunteer fans of the band, without any salaries or paid staff, since its inception in 1996.