In response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the Mockingbird Foundation will use Emergency Grant funds to rapidly help protect music education in these unprecedented times, beginning with $25,000. Between now and July 31st, the Foundation will also match the first $25,000 in donations made by our community, to give at least $75,000 total to #ProtectMusicEd!

Please click here to donate!

Due to the slowed economy, programs across the country may be cut significantly because of budget constraints, while they are also losing the fundraising revenue generated by live performances. Some programs will struggle to survive on their own; meanwhile, all are adjusting to new circumstances that few were completely prepared to face. We asked several of our past grant recipients to share details about their current and expected future financial needs as they adapt in response to the pandemic. Here are a few of their responses:

"A grant from The Mockingbird Foundation would help put instruments in children's hands to facilitate virtual learning from home."

"It would allow me to buy an online, interactive music curriculum for my students to use."

"To help cover the cost of our program instructors because we have seen a huge loss in future funding and current donors." "Funding will help us to provide financial aid to students whose families can no longer afford our program fees." "Truthfully, my department is so underfunded and lacking in resources that any amount of money would be greatly beneficial for my students."

Thanks so much for supporting music education for children! Please help us spread the word by sharing this page and using #ProtectMusicEd on social media.

If you find yourself at home a lot these days, maybe you have a vehicle that you don't expect to use much in the foreseeable future? Maybe you could use an extra tax deduction? We can help you on both counts, and benefit music education in the process.

You can now donate a car, truck, motorcycle, RV, or boat to benefit the all-volunteer, fan-run Mockingbird Foundation. Fill out an easy form, and we'll get it picked up and processed, at no cost to you. You'll get an initial donation receipt from CARS, acknowledgement from the Mockingbird Foundation, and then a tax receipt when it sells.

We've announced the second in our series of 10(+?) weekend tasks designed to give you a bit of Phishy fun and frivolity in the absence of places to go and other things to do. (Tasks 3, 5, and 8 are particularly designed to engage the kiddos, if you're looking for family bonding, but we hope that each is somewhat entertaining.) The announcements come each Friday at noon Pacific, with a deadline of Monday noon pacific to post your video (of no more than 20 seconds) in the given .net forum thread. We'll mail some prizes each week, with a grand prize at the end - and plenty of time left to get on the leaderboard.

Task #2 has been announced, and submissions have started. Be safe, and make good choices!

British comedians Alex Horne and Greg Davies host a panel show on BBC called Taskmaster, of five comedians challenged to creatively accomplish a series of tasks, such as camouflaging themselves, long-distance painting, and destroying a cake. Alex creates the tasks, the panel members compete doing them, and Greg (the Taskmaster) ranks them, esp. when time or distance isn’t the criterion. (The U.S. version kinda sucks, btw.)

They’re now doing a #hometasking series, giving viewers 30 hours to submit a 20-second video completing a task, such as create an epic sporting moment in your kitchen, do something extraordinary with a pair of trousers, and make the best dancing elephant. Worldwide, they’re giving kids something to do, families a way to come together, and even young (and not so young) adults a goofy way to get off Zoom and entertain each other from afar. (We're big fans at Chateau Lemuria: 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9.)

So… obviously (duh)… We’re doing a phish.net edition of #hometasking! (We’re not the first to piggyback, btw - and Alex did an earlier Advent series.) We’ll announce a Phish-related #hometasking challenge in a new forum thread each Friday afternoon. You’ll have 72 hours to submit it to the thread, and we’ll announce the “best” by Tuesday evening, prior to Dinner & a Movie. Task #1 is already up:

We’ll identify a top tier of submissions by likes on posts, so please weigh in on your faves. (Like Alex, I don’t like to judge). Those will get ranked by a .net luminary serving as the Taskmaster for that task - this week, David “ZZYZX”/”The Timer” Steinberg, the man behind PhishStats. Top winner each week will be mailed a copy of Sharin' in the Groove and two Mockingbird stickers; top overall winner at the end of the run wins a limited-edition TPC3 Jersey featuring art by AJ Masthay. We’ll track the progress over coming weeks on a leaderboard - and, oi, do we have a list of tasks! No tour? No problem! We’ve got couches, we’ve got kids, and we’ve got Phish.net!

There'll be another session of Phish Yoga this coming Saturday, March 14, from 3:15 to 4:15 at the Yoga Collective NYC. It'll be 60 minutes of Vinyasa Yoga, set to Phish music, with like-minded folks and good vibes all around. All proceeds benefit the all-volunteer Mockingbird Foundation, supporting music education for children with almost no overhead. Tickets are available thru Eventbrite.

The Mockingbird Foundation has announced the largest round of grants in its 24-year history, with twenty grants in twelve states totalling $141,263. More than half the grants in this round were made above the requested amount - including one grant matched by the Kristy Anastasio Manning Memorial Fund, two grants doubled by Phish's own Waterwheel Foundation, and five grant amounts increased by Mockingbird's board of directors having been impressed by strong organizations with clear vision and demonstrated needs. All grants fund music education for children. Total grants for the entirely fan-run, entirely volunteer (no staff, no salaries, no office) nonprofit now exceed $1.6M.

Tired of waiting for security to go through your bag on the way into a show? Toss your stuff in a clear backpack with two compartments, elastic mesh side pockets, zipper closures, adjustable shoulder straps… and the Mockingbird Foundation logo. Ideal for the growing number of events and venues that are only allowing clear bags, and may help speed entry everywhere. Plus, a great conversation starter: Proceeds benefit music education for children, through an all-volunteer organization run entirely by fans of the band.