KSO awarded "Gift of Giving" grant
April 13, 2012
Western Michigan University's Non-Profit Leadership Program awarded the Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra a $2,000 grant as part of its "Gift of Giving" event yesterday. The KSO was one of five grant recipients out of nearly 20 applicants. The grant will be used to purchase instruments for Kalamazoo Kids In Tune.
Developed in 2011, Kalamazoo Kids In Tune (KKIT) combines the talents and resources of the Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra with the Kalamazoo Public Schools and Communities in Schools of Kalamazoo (KCIS), to effect positive social change in Kalamazoo through an intensive after-school music program.
The KKIT pilot program (begun Sept 2011) takes place at Woods Lake Elementary: A Magnet School for the Arts. The program infuses the existing KCIS after-school program with the El Sistema philosophy and methodology.
KKIT surrounds the children with a caring web of support, resources, and mentors. Four days each week (Mon-Thurs) children receive a hot meal, academic tutoring and literacy support, music instruction, and recreation.
Kalamazoo Kids In Tune is supported by the Kalamazoo Community Foundation and the Irving S. Gilmore Foundation.
