PECAA Gives… Join us as we make our vision a reality by helping us leave a positive, lasting impact on the communities where we come together.
After an Annual Meeting site visit to New Orleans in 2016, our Events Team approached PECAA with an idea… let’s find a way to leave our “footprint” in the cities that welcome us each year – and PECAA Gives was officially born! Many of you were there when we “paraded” through sheets of rain in the streets of New Orleans, led by our first PECAA Gives recipient, the Edna Karr Marching Band. Hundreds of us danced the night away in Nashville as the WO Smith School of Music performed for our group. And together in Tucson, we heard the impactful story of a parent whose child was affected by last year’s PECAA Gives recipient – Beads of Courage.
Since PECAA Give’s inception in 2016, our Members and Vendor Partners have donated over $46,000 to local groups and foundations in need.
The PECAA Gives program was created as a way for each individual in the PECAA community to leave behind a positive footprint on the city long after we’re gone – and we invite you to join us in donating to this years’ 2019 recipient – Anthropos Arts.
2019 PECAA Gives Beneficiary
PECAA’s 2019 Annual Meeting takes place in a city known for it’s eclectic live music scene and our 2019 recipient, Anthropos Arts, is a perfect fit. We are excited for each of you to learn more about this incredible organization over the next several months (and perhaps even hear them live in Austin!) and discover why we fell in love with their story.
About Anthropos Arts
Imagine not having three meals a day. Imagine not knowing where you would sleep each night. Imagine having a parent or sibling in jail. Imagine living in a house marked by violence, addiction, and abuse. On a daily basis, Anthropos Arts’ students are challenged by all combinations of these obstacles that come with living in poverty.
Anthropos Arts, a 501 (c)(3) non-profit organization, was founded to address a need in Austin for high-quality music education for low-income students. They are committed to connecting at-risk youth with professional musicians to cultivate confidence, integrity and life-skills through musical instruction and mentorship.
100% of their students are from low-income families, ranging from homeless, food-insecure, to just short of meeting the basic needs for survival. The students are, on average, 7 times as likely to drop out of high school, twice as likely to still be poor/unemployed by age 35, and 63 times more likely to have an adult crime on their record than someone with a Bachelor’s degree. These are just a few of many daunting statistics showing how the odds are stacked against the students they serve.
Anthropos began in the Spring of 1998 at Travis and Reagan High School, with 2 workshops and 15 students getting free lessons. Since then, they have gone on to provide over 18,000 music lessons to students living in poverty, have offered over 100 incredible workshops in Title I schools with world-class and Grammy-winning artist, have held over 150 public student performances, have conducted over 10,000 lessons and collaborated with world-renowned artists. All of this has come at a $0 cost to the students, families, schools, or districts that they serve.
Students get free instruction and mentoring from some of the best artists in the country, performance opportunities at Austin’s best-known venues and exposure to a wide range of music as both an audience and a performer.
For 12 years, 100% of the Anthropos Arts students have graduated High School and more than 90% have gone on to college on scholarship. For 5 of the last 6 years, 100% of grads (15-20 each year) have gone on to college. Twelve out of 18 of the 2017 class received full-rides to four-year universities – all of them the first in their families to do so.
https://vimeo.com/92528383
Donate Today & Help us Reach our Goal of $20,000!
Please join us in helping us reach our goal of $20,000! Donating online is quick, easy and safe – simply click the button below to get started!
