The entirely volunteer Mockingbird Foundation, started and run entirely by fans, has announced sixteen new grants totalling $111,771 in its 25th round of competitive funding for music education for children. Two of these grants were 50% funded by the band's own Waterwheel Foundation, and a third was 50% funded by the Kristy Anastasio Memorial Fund. Mockingbird has now made 491 grants totalling more than $1.8M.

There is still time to make a tax-deductible donation to Mockingbird this year - and we'll start reviewing inquiries for Round 26 in less than three weeks. We hope to celebrate the Foundation's 25th birthday in 2021 with our 500th grant, and several other landmark achievements - help us get there!

YouTube user "Nosmo King" has uploaded for the first time footage of Phish playing with Santana, captured on July 31, 1992 at Blossom Music Center in Cuyahoga Falls, OH. The setlist has been added to phish.net and you can watch the video here:

The entire band sat in for "Elmore's Blues," and Trey stayed on for "Blues for Salvador." At one point, Santana comically introduces Mike as "Mark." Thank a taper!

The Fifth Annual Runaway Open (5RO) will be a single-round, 18-hole, virtual tournament played at your leisure over Labor Day weekend (Friday the 4th through Monday the 7th), at the course of your choosing, from over 35,000 listed worldwide.

We want to keep alive our tradition of a charity golf tournament for Phish fans over Labor Day weekend, enjoying golf and remembering the cause of music education for children, while still keeping everyone safe. So, while the offering comes at the 11th hour, we trust that some of you are planning to hit some balls this weekend, anyway. You might as well register your play with other Phish fans, and join in the weekend of remembering Dick's gone by and celebrating the interests that we continue to share. We'll even provide a private feed for tournament registrants, so that you can follow how other fans are doing, worldwide and all weekend.

Registration is free, and participation is donation-suggested, since you will be responsible for your greens and cart fees. (And we're obviously not serving coffee, lunch, or beverages this year, though encourage you to employ all three.)  We also won't have sponsors or contests this year. However, participants who donate $50 or more (per player, if in a group) as part of their registration will be sent a gift bag of limited-edition commemorative items branded with the Runaway Open logo and only available to those who register and donate prior to midnight on Tuesday the 8th, including a performance-quality comfort-fit visor, a two-ply (comfort cotton inside, resistant poly outside) face mask, and a sleeve of Calloway Warbird 2.0 golf balls.

For tournament rules and registration, visit the event page now!

From Phish's Dinner and a Movie Ep. 23 announcement:

The next episode of Dinner and A Movie will not be taking place next Tuesday. But good news: we’re excited to announce a triple-feature over Labor Day weekend, three nights of archival shows from Dick’s Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City, CO to commemorate Phish’s end-of-summer celebrations. Next Friday, we’ll air Phish’s set from 9/1/17. On Saturday, we’ll air 9/1/12. And then on Sunday, on the show’s 5-year anniversary, we’ll air 9/6/15.

The beneficiary for the full weekend is The Mockingbird Foundation,  a non-profit organization dedicated to improving access to music education for America’s youth. You can make a donation now via The Waterwheel Foundation at phish.com/waterwheel. Each year, the Foundation awards grants to dozens of music education programs, and funds those grants through a combination of fundraising, publishing, and the curation of Phish.net, one of the earliest Internet fan communities.  The Mockingbird Foundation has no salaries, paid staff, office space, or endowment — thus distributing all possible funds to charity. The Foundation’s primary purpose is charitable, with more than $1.6M in grants to 450 grantees covering all 50 states. For more information, visit mbird.org.

We are thrilled to announce our most recent grant recipient: Harmony, Hope & Healing. The organization supports women, men and children as they heal from traumas associated with homelessness, incarceration, addiction, and isolation. It currently provides online music classes as an appropriate way to relieve stress, express emotions and develop positive relationships. The Mockingbird Foundation is proud to offer a $5000 grant in support of their amazing programs so they can continue to reach as many people as possible during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Mockingbird Foundation is thrilled to announce our latest Grant Recipient from the COVID-19 Relief Effort: A Place Called Home! Since the pandemic began, this organization has shifted to virtual classes, recorded lessons and tutorials, and online support for young people in South Central Los Angeles. They’ve been offering a total of 45 online classes a week, via a membership model that provides enrolled youth and families with services at no cost to them.

Our grant, made possible by our generous donors, will allow A Place Called Home to continue to provide virtual music instruction by ensuring the students have the technology and materials to access the classes. Learn more about this amazing program: www.apch.org

Phooty Kits, producer of high quality and affordable Phish-centric soccer jerseys, has teamed with The Mockingbird Foundation to create a limited edition run to celebrate the non-profit's mission to support music education.

Jerseys are $39 dollars apiece, with one third of each jersey's sale price going directly to the Mockingbird Foundation.

Pre-orders will be taken until July 15th, after which the jerseys will go to press and ship.

Each jersey is customizable, meaning you can put special names, numbers, and hem notes on your order!

Please pay attention to sizing chart to get appropriate fit.

Place your order at www.phootykits.com.

The Mockingbird Foundation is pleased to announce our latest grant recipient from the COVID-19 Relief Effort: The Heartbeat Music Project! @heartbeatmusicproject provides music education to Navajo (Diné) children K - 12 living on the Navajo reservation. The organization strives to create an atmosphere of cultural exchange in which they acknowledge the impact of past and present colonialism on indigenous people while respectfully engaging with Diné music, cultures and customs. With the support of our donors, we are glad to help bring some joy to the reservation in this difficult time, during which the Navajo Nation has been hit disproportionately hard by the pandemic. Please join us in celebrating The Heartbeat Music Project!