Author: miljennifer77

More than $10K raised for new pianos

by miljennifer77

The Langley School District Foundation and Thank You for the Music Society are excited to announce a successful fundraiser in 2021 that resulted in local students strengthening their music practice habits, and more than $10,000 raised towards new pianos in our Langley public schools.

The Practice-A-Thon fundraiser resulted in the purchase of four brand-new pianos for our local schools:

  • Shortreed Community Elementary
  • Vanguard Secondary
  • Donna Gabriel Robins Elementary
  • Langley Fundamental Middle and Secondary

These pianos will support multiple music opportunities in our public schools: choirs, bands, jazz ensembles, musical theatre, and individual practice. Local students of all ages will have the opportunity to learn and embrace the positive power of music in their lives!

The Practice-A-Thon took place in May 2021 with nearly 200 young musicians committing to practice their instruments for a 15-day period, and collecting pledges from family and friends. Many sincere thanks to all the students, parents, friends, and teachers who participated in and donated to the Practice-A-Thon. Thanks also to Yamaha Canada, Tom Lee Music, and two local McDonald’s restaurants for their contributions to the fundraiser.

This is the first collaboration between the Langley School District Foundation and Thank You for the Music Society, and both groups are excited to continue working together. There is talk of making the Practice-A-Thon an annual event!

Join the Practice-A-Thon fundraiser: May 10-24, 2021

by miljennifer77

Calling all musicians!

Thank You for the Music Society and the Langley School District Foundation are excited to launch the Practice-A-Thon to support music students and teachers in the Langley School District. This year’s Practice-A-Thon will take place from May 10-24, 2021. Musicians (students) register online with a commitment to practice for a specific amount of time over 15 days. Family and friends are encouraged to pledge students to support the goal of purchasing new acoustic, hybrid and stage pianos for schools throughout the Langley School District.

Everyone is welcome to participate! Re-commit to regular practicing, return to your instrument, or pick up a new one. The Practice-A-Thon helps strengthen practice habits, while also helping support public school students being able to access music education. Plus, there are fabulous prizes up for grabs! The top-three fundraisers will receive our amazing, music-themed grand prizes, and every Practice-A-Thon participant who raises $15+ will be entered into a draw for even more great prizes.

CLICK HERE TO GET STARTED building your online profile. Then collect pledges, and reach your practice goal May 10-24.

Scroll down and click the Download button to access our welcome package with more information and tools such as a practice log and draft email to request pledges.

Event details:

What:              Practice-A-Thon fundraiser

Who:               Anyone who plays an instrument, musicians of all ages and stages

When:             Online registration opens May 1, 2021

                        Practice-A-Thon takes place May 10-24, 2021

                        Deadline to receive pledges is June 7, 2021

Where:            Register online at http://raiseathon.ca/thankyouforthemusic

Why:               FUN – PRIZES – INCENTIVES – SUPPORT

  • Encourages practice and helps develop daily practice habits
  • Practice- A-Thon dates selected to serve as a great motivator to help prepare for annual music festival, exams and recitals
  • Develops students’ capacity to give back to the community
  • Supports music education in Langley, with pledges raised going towards the purchase of new pianos in public schools that need them most
  • Lots of exciting prizes to be won
Participant Welcome PackageDownload

Bringing music to elementary students

by miljennifer77

We recently received a thank you letter from the Principal at Hjorth Road Elementary School in Surrey, BC and wanted to share with all of you the impact of your support for bringing music to the lives of young students.

Thanks to our generous supporters, the hard work of our President, Shelley, collecting bottles from near and far in our holiday bottle drive, and an incredible donation from Dr. Ross Salvosa from his fundraiser recital, TYFTM Society was able to donate $1,400 towards instruments and band books for the school’s Grade 7 music program.

With the donation, the school was able to purchase four flutes, three clarinets, an electric guitar and amp, plus new clarinet reeds, band books and more!

“… your donation has enabled many students to enjoy a music program that would otherwise be unavailable to them,” wrote Principal Colter. “Music is filling the hallways at Hjorth Road!”

This is why we do what we do! Thank you for your continuing to support our work of helping overcome barriers communities face in accessing music.

2020 Year in Review

by miljennifer77

What a year 2020 has been! Along with just about everyone and everything, Thank You for the Music Society has been impacted by the pandemic. However, we recently regrouped as a board for our Annual General Meeting (AGM) and thought we would share some positive notes from the year. 

We started off 2020 with a wonderful bang: Our friend, supporter and wonderful musician Dr. Ross Salvosa hosted a recital on January 18 and donated all proceeds from door donations to TYFTM! It was a wonderful event and attendees were very generous – we were gifted $600 from the proceeds of the evening. Big thank you and gratitude to Dr. Salvosa and his fans! We are also grateful to Tom Lee Music for providing the venue, Steinway D Concert Grand, and tuning service for this event. We are just getting ready to put the donation to use – more on that below.


The middle part of the year was very quiet for us as a society, with fundraising and other charitable activities largely curtailed by the pandemic, and all of our families adjusting to a different way of life. 

However, this fall has seen TYFTM reinvigorated with news of a need for band instruments at a Surrey, BC school. Hjorth Road Elementary, a K-7 school with about 300 students, is in critical need of clarinets, flutes, a bass guitar and a trumpet. We are currently running a bottle drive and small fundraiser to add to Dr. Salvosa’s generous donation to fulfill this need for instruments so these young students can learn and participate in music. Our planned donation will make the purchase of 10 instruments possible for this Surrey school.

If you would like to make a donation, please do so via our PayPal account (click here).

We also recently held our AGM and have some ideas for 2021 and beyond. Would you like to see us bring back our Practice-a-Thon from a couple of years ago? Let us know!

In the meantime, best wishes for a joyful and music-filled festive season from all of us at Thank You for the Music! 

Donation results in 21 new instruments at nine schools

by miljennifer77

Students at nine different schools in Surrey are playing new musical instruments, thanks to the efforts of Practice-A-Thon participants and donors. Thank You for the Music Society was able to donate a very exciting $7,500 to the Surrey School District from the proceeds of our 2018 Practice-A-Thon fundraiser.

The donation was used to purchase 12 xylophones, six glockenspiels and three digital pianos – a total of 21 new instruments.

The school district organized a celebration at Bonnacord Elementary on Jan. 23 to acknowledge the donation, and TYFTM Society board members were so pleased and honoured to hear the students perform a song on the new xylophones that were purchased with some of the Practice-A-Thon proceeds.

Once again, we would like to thank our amazing community of music teachers and students who participated in the Practice-A-Thon – this is all because of your efforts and support!

AGM held November 11

by miljennifer77

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The Thank You for the Music Society Board held its annual general meeting in beautiful Gibsons, B.C. on the Sunshine Coast on November 11, 2018.

It was a productive planning session, a mini retreat and a time for team-building all in one! There was a lot of talk about next steps and upcoming fundraising efforts. Stay tuned for more news on that front.

Get in touch and let us know if you have any ideas for fundraisers, or to get involved as a volunteer! You can email our President, Shelley, at tyftmsociety@gmail.com.

In the meantime, enjoy some photos from our AGM. Thanks for all of your support!

More than $10K raised through Practice-A-Thon

by miljennifer77

Thank You for the Music Society is please to announce the results of our Practice-A-Thon fundraiser, held January 15-28: A total of $10,330 was raised by 10 participating music teachers and their approximately 110 students!

We are so grateful for and humbled by the support of these teachers and students, and we were excited to see the enthusiasm that built around the fundraiser. Check out our Facebook page to see some of the amazing videos and photos that Practice-A-Thon participants shared!

The majority of proceeds from the Practice-A-Thon were donated to the Surrey School District, to purchase a variety of new instruments for several schools. Stay tuned for more information about this major donation, including photos from the upcoming cheque presentation!

TYFTM also presented a portion of proceeds to the BC Registered Music Teachers’ Association South Fraser Branch for its support of the fundraising effort among member teachers.

We’d like to recognize some of the top fundraisers among Practice-A-Thon participants:

  • Alice from KT Piano Studio in White rock was our grand-prize winner! With help from her brother Alvin, Alice brought in the top donations – more than $900. She collected donations from all over the world. The grand prize was an iPad, which was generously donated by Surrey Costco and a private company.
  • Other top fundraisers and prize winners include Harry, who won a speaker generously donated by Yamaha, Nora who won a guitar also donated by Yamaha, and Lia, who won donated Vancouver Symphony Orchestra tickets. Each of these participants raised more than $500 each.

In addition to the major sponsors named above, we’d also like to recognize Chantal Fennell, Piano Tuner Vancouver, who donated a trip to Tofino ($1,000 value)! Your support is SO appreciated. Big thanks also to Tom Lee Music Canada for the ongoing support – for the Practice-A-Thon they donated two $50 gift cards.

Other Practice-A-Thon sponsors donated gift cards, wine and other awesome prizes. We would like to thank Vancouver General Contractors, Trish Wiese from Bitz & Pieces Contractor, Andrea Guzzo from Body Exchange Burnaby, 24 Hour Glass , Boston Pizza Guildford, Guildford Town Centre, Choices Market Surrey, Purdys Chocolatier and Vancouver Canucks.

We couldn’t have done it without all of these amazing sponsors, supporters, and of course all of our awesome participants! Thank you all.

Register for the Practice-A-Thon! Packages available in English and Mandarin

by miljennifer77

Registration is now open for the 1st Annual Practice-A-Thon, coming up January 15-28. Click here to register and start collecting online pledges!

We have put together a package of info and resources to help make the Practice-A-Thon process as smooth as possible. Please click the links below for step-by-step information, plus a letter you can customize and send to family and friends to collect donations, a pledge form, and a practice log.

PAT 2018 student package

PAT 2018 Student Package 给学生的指导

In collaboration with the South Fraser Branch of the B.C. Registered Music Teachers’ Association, music students will collect pledges from family and friends, and commit to practice for a specific amount of time over the two-week Practice-A-Thon.

The majority of funds raised through the Practice-A-Thon will be donated to the Surrey School District, to support the purchase of new pianos in schools that need them the most.

Have any questions? Please contact us at TYFTMSociety@gmail.com.

Practice-A-Thon coming in January 2018

by miljennifer77

TYFTM Raiseathon main slider image_920px

We are excited to announce our next fundraiser: the 1st Annual Practice-A-Thon, coming January 15-28, 2018!

In collaboration with the South Fraser Branch of the B.C. Registered Music Teachers’ Association, music students will collect pledges from family and friends, and commit to practice for a specific amount of time over the two-week Practice-A-Thon.

The majority of funds raised through the Practice-A-Thon will be donated to the Surrey School District, to support the purchase of new pianos in schools that need them the most.

Our goal is to raise $25,000 through this exciting new initiative, and we hope to make it an annual event!

Online registration for Team Captains (music teachers) will open soon – stay tuned! – and student registration opens on December 15.

Check back soon for more information, and a link to the Practice-A-Thon site!

Contact us at TYFTMSociety@gmail.com to get involved.

Cheque presented to Surrey School District

by miljennifer77

Thanks to the generous support from our community and supporters, through our launch party and fundraiser last year, Thank You for the Music (TYFTM) was recently able to make its first official donation as a society!

On Sept. 28, TYFTM President, Shelley, Vice President, Kelly, and our youngest member, Bella, presented a cheque for $2,000 to the Surrey School District. The cheque was presented at North Surrey Secondary, where part of the donation will support tunings of the school’s piano. A great group of music students, along with Mr. Jon Krueger from the Performing Arts Department, were on hand to accept the donation and perform a song for us. It was a very special moment.

The district will put the donation towards the purchase of two digital keyboards, which will be loaned out to several schools on a rotating basis, plus two tunings for the piano at North Surrey Secondary.

Thank YOU for helping bring music to the lives of students in Surrey!

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