Flip’n Flapjacks Charity Dinner
Rouse High School, TX
1222 Raider Way, Leander, TX, USAProject Description
In December 2019, Rouse Band hosted the First Annual Flip’n Flapjacks Charity Dinner.
We recognize that we are fortunate to live in a community that supports music in our public education system. Our Directors and staff provide our students with skills that reach far beyond musical notes and instruments. Our students may not realize that they are learning lessons in many non-musical life-skills that will have positive impacts as they become adults. This past holiday season, we had the opportunity to share the gift of music education with other students who may not have the opportunity otherwise. We partnered with Kids in a New Groove, a local non-profit organization that provides students in the Foster Care System in Texas with the chance to learn the incredible benefits of music education in their life.
Our Flip’n Flapjacks fundraiser was an all-volunteer, donation-based event supported entirely by Rouse Band families. Over the course of an evening, Rouse band students and family members cooked and served a full pancake dinner to hundreds of local community members. Dressed in our most festive holiday regalia, we listened to holiday tunes, flipped flapjacks, and changed the focus from our own students’ education to that of others less fortunate.
At our Winter Concert on December 12th, we presented Kids in a New Groove with a check for $1,500. This donation helped Kids in a New Groove provide foster children with not only music lessons and instruments, but also with mentors that help build life skills through the power of music education.
Since 2009, Kids In A New Groove has served over 650 youth in foster care with free, weekly music lessons and mentorship. There are currently over 32,000 children in the Texas foster care system. Half of those children will not graduate high school. Less than 3% will earn a college degree. For the past four years, 100% of Kids in a New Groove students graduated high school and 95% went on to attend college, technical school or enlist in the military. Music mentorship has played an integral part of the success of each of these students.
Target Audience
Overview of planning and execution process for this project
By November 15th, we had decided on a date to hold the event and we voted to choose the recipient of the funds raised.
November 17th – A facebook event was created and social media promotions began.
November 20th – Volunteer and Donation sign-ups were posted. This included volunteer positions for cooking, crafting with children, taking donations and other positions. Food item donations were all provided by Rouse Band families. There was no money spent from Rouse Band Booster funds to hold this event.
Sponsors/charities/volunteers/ other groups involved in the project and the benefits to each.
Kids In A New Groove provides Texas youth in foster care with a committed one-on-one mentoring relationship through weekly private music instruction, giving students the ability to build concrete strategies for life-long success.
By creating a consistent and nurturing environment, we empower youth in foster care to transform their futures through music mentorship.
Karyn Scott founded Kids In New Digs in 2004, a nonprofit that intended to provide donated clothing to kids in the foster care system – having worked as a federal prosecutor in Travis County, she was familiar with the youth in foster care. After realizing that donated clothing would not make a lasting difference in each child’s life, the organization changed its name and mission in 2009 to reflect its ambitions: to enrich and enhance the lives of foster kids and to help them “age out” of the program with at least one solid adult relationship, a set of learned skills, and a sense of self-worth.
Kids in a New Groove’s (KING) mission is to provide Central Texas children living in foster care with a committed one-on-one mentoring relationship through free, weekly, private music instruction. Since 2009, KING has empowered over 600 youth with music mentorship. Children in foster care are a highly vulnerable and underserved population. Having undergone emotional, sexual, or physical abuse, the children’s lives are traumatic before they even enter foster care. Our music mentors and their students build a lasting relationship of support which helps our students succeed academically, emotionally and socially. KING equips youth in care with concrete tools to show the world and, more importantly, youth themselves what they can accomplish with passion and dedication.
Community Impact
Overall budget
$0
Specific Budget Breakdown
New or recurring project?
New ProjectChallenges/obstacles that were encountered
As with any new event, getting the word out and drawing the community in is always a challenge. Using our large social media audience, we were able to draw xx people and sell xx plates to local community members.
Measurement of the success/effectiveness of this project?
Advice for someone looking to replicate this project in their own community?
A project like our Flip’n Flapjacks Charity Dinner requires little to no investment, and significant funds can be raised with only small donations of supplies and time from a large group of individuals and families.