A heartfelt ask for some orchestra high school kids, direct from one of our own, Rachel Jayson (Patreon)

Hi all.

Long story short, my amazing friend Rachel is trying to fundraise for her orchestra kids and every bit helps: https://tinyurl.com/LHSChamberScholarship

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I almost never do this for pals or offer this, but this is a big special and time-sensitive direct-community ASK....

The ask is from my friend (and patron, and long-time art- AND mom- collaborator) Rachel Jayson, who's not only a long-know-by-me Boston-area musician (she's in two bands that have been long-time allies of The Dresden Dolls, Walter Sickert & The Army of Broke Toys, and Mali Sastri's band Jaggery).

She's totally trusted, but she's also breaking down barriers anew: she was the first EVER Black person to be hired by the performing arts department in the whole school system in our traditionally quite-straight little town of Lexington, MA.

Here's a couple projects I've done with Rachel, if you missed them:

The MOTHER video, an Pink Floyd cover song and anti-Trump project back when it all started to....you know, fall apart.

The Mess Inside video (patron-funded, with Coco & co).

This fun little viral video of MIA's "Paper Planes" in the top floor of the cloud club....

And....we collaborated on taking our kids to see David Byrne the other night. That counts, right? (More on that later.)

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Here we are this summer, looking like a couple of bad-ass and tired moms, because....we are.

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She is also - and this is the thing - the first queer woman of color to direct the orchestra at Lexington High School, my alma mater.

I went to this high school and I know that the income disparity between kids is vast. Some of these kids have super-rich parents. Some of these parents of super-talented music kids just...don't.

I'll let Rachel's video speak for itself....I asked her to make it JUST for the patreon, for you, because once I heard the ask, I wanted to empty my wallet to her.

She just literally texted me that she was in downtown Lexington on her lunch break, told the story to someone in the local bank, and they gave her a huge donation. It's about the story, people....and she tells it well.

She basically needs to raise north of $25,000 in the name of kids making music...and she needs this not for her, but to help her orchestra students.

Why this? Why now? I help my friends. Rachel and I have been collaborators for a long time and I really believe that if we are gonna battle the forces of darkness, the asks really do get as personal and as specific as THIS, right here and now. I ask you, because I trust her, and hopefully you trust ME.

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Here's the link to donate to help get her kids the funds they need for this orchestra trip and program: LHS Chamber Orchestra Scholarship Fund.

Since this is for a school, red tape means that typical fundraising platforms like kickstarter and gofundme were NOT an option...you probably haven't used this platform (WeTravel) before, but the link is legit, legit, legit.

I just donated, and I hope this community can help.

ON THAT NOTE, Rachel was also selected as a quarterfinalist for a GRAMMY (!!!!) in the music educator category....if you wanna see the video pitch she made for it, it'll take you over the edge. It's HERE: https://youtu.be/P5Mvw71NlTY?si=HEhDjNz6bN9z8hSS

Here's Rachel's whole bio, and more about her work ...

Here she is with the LHS orchestra kids...there's Rachel on the right.

Ok, ask over.

Give if you can!!!

Here's the link again:

https://tinyurl.com/LHSChamberScholarship

Comment if you did!!!!

Thank you all....

LOVE.

Amanda (and gratitude from Rachel)