rain

“Save it for a rainy day!” Good advice for anyone, no doubt. While we would like to think that the sun will always shine on the Anthony Kearns Music Fund, creating a rainy day fund seemed to be a good idea. Hence, “Singin’ in the Rain” fundraiser! At the moment, the Music Fund has funded all the requests that have been made to date and $7,500 is available for the 2005 Vocal Scholarships. But we never know when a special request will surface (the one certainty being that a request will surface). Additionally, the Music Fund will always need to replenish its treasury to fund future Vocal Scholarships, to assist that F.C.J. Secondary School student who needs financial help in order to take music lessons, or to replace that tired F.C.J. Band trombone or clarinet!

With no specific, tangible target in our sights, the dollar goal for our rainy day fund presented the need for some creative thinking … but we think we’ve met the challenge. We have established two goals: a NEED goal, and a WANT goal! ? Since this fundraiser is to honor Anthony’s birthday, we thought his year of birth would translate into a good NEED goal … $1971. Our WANT goal??? We thought playing on his age would be appropriate … $3400 (as in 34 years old). To meet our NEED would be admirable. To meet our WANT would be outstanding! Won’t you join our efforts?

As in the past, there are some delightful drawing items to provide added “giving incentive”. No matter the amount of your donation, your participation will automatically make you eligible for the drawing.* These items were generously donated to the Music Fund and will be awarded at the conclusion of “Singin’ in the Rain” fundraiser, August 17, 2005.

Belleek Fortunes Vase (Height 7”)

Child's Quilt (35" X 47")

Boston Red Sox Baseball Cap

Donated and signed by Anthony Kearns
Inscription: “Go Red Sox - Anthony Kearns”
Winner - Maxine Kaplan

We hope you will consider helping us as we continue to help others make music…even when it rains. As the song says, we promise that your gift will give you AND us that

Donations should be sent to:

SINGIN’ IN THE RAIN
ANTHONY KEARNS MUSIC FUND
19100 SHAKER BOULEVARD
SHAKER HEIGHTS, OHIO 44122 U.S.A.

Please make your checks payable to: ANTHONY KEARNS MUSIC FUND and indicate that your donation is for “Singin’ in the Rain”.

Wishing you a safe and happy summer,

The Board of Directors, Anthony Kearns Music Fund
Barbara Gordon
Cilla Horst
Eileen Martin
Ted Mearns
Emily Tidball

* If you are included in the drawing, IRS regulations require that the amount of your donation which you may deduct from your federal taxes for 2005 will be reduced by $40.00, the estimated value of the most valuable prize. We are therefore offering you the option to exclude yourself from the drawing in order to be able to deduct the full amount of your donation from your 2005 federal taxes. Should you wish to exclude yourself from the drawing, please include a note with your donation letting us know that you do not want to participate in the drawing.

Donated by “A Friend of the Music Fund”
Winner - Berta Calechman

Donated by Michelle Senton
Signed by Anthony Kearns
Winner - Kelly ("Kel-Bel") Hoehn

The Music Fund is all sunshine and smiles after another very successful summer fundraiser. Truth be known, this latest campaign, “Singin’ in the Rain”, was launched with some degree of trepidation. Unlike previous fundraisers, we were raising money for a “rainy day” fund rather than for a specific purpose. With nothing other than a monetary goal, we weren’t certain that our donors would be willing to contribute their treasure for an “unknown”. In fact, to cushion the risk we thought we were taking, we set two goals … a NEED goal and a WANT goal. If we reached the NEED goal of $1,971, we could claim success. If we reached the WANT goal of $3,400, we would be ecstatic!!! Well, once again, our loyal supporters affirmed that our mission is valid and worthy. The final tally for “Singin’ in the Rain” --- $3,655.00! How wonderful that the Music Fund is in a position to grant a future request without having to say, “We think we can help you out, but can you wait until we hold a fundraiser?”

I want to personally acknowledge and thank everyone who helped make this such a shining achievement: our Board for its support and vision; our webmaster for the technical skills, patience and tenacity required for yet another online fundraiser; the donors of our drawing prizes (Anthony Kearns – Red Sox baseball cap, Michelle Senton – youth quilt, and a “Friend” – Belleek Fortunes Vase); the “listers” who offered encouraging words on the Yahoo fan sites; the various fan websites that carried our fundraiser banner; and most importantly the 47 contributors who carried us over the rainbow to meet (and even surpass) our highest goal! For those interested in statistics, there were 8 new contributors, and we can now add Australia to the list of countries where we have Music Fund supporters! With the United States, Canada, Ireland and Australia “in our pocket”, we have fun speculating about which country will surface next!

In closing I would like to offer congratulations to our drawing winners (Max Kaplan – Red Sox baseball cap, Kelly Hoehn - youth quilt, and Berta Calechman – Belleek Fortunes Vase) and to each and every one of our donors who, through unstinting generosity, created such a nice big umbrella for the Music Fund’s rainy day fund!

Wishing you all just the right balance of clouds and sunshine,

Priscilla Horst
Executive Director