LANSING, Mich. — LAFCU has marked the 10thanniversary of a program that supports local high school bands with a $1,000 donation to Mason High School. Since 2010, LAFCDU has boosted area high school band programs to the tune of $10,000. That’s when the Michigan credit union agreed to be the entertainment sponsor of the Lansing Regional Chamber of Commerce Annual Dinner.
“We love this sponsorship,” said LAFCU Chief Marketing Officer Kelli Ellsworth Etchison. “It helps the chamber and it provides much-needed funding for band programs. School administrators must make tough choices in the budgeting process, and maintaining and updating band equipment can be quite costly. A donation to the band provides funds that may not be available within the school budget.”
Lansing Regional Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Tim Daman added, “LAFCU has been a wonderful and enthusiastic partner. These donations have helped a lot of kids and have been good for many communities, as marching bands are often a source of local pride.”
For Mason High School, the $1,000 donation arrives exactly at the right time: The credit union kicked off a $24,000 fund drive for the band.
“I had just met with the principal to outline what is needed to replace our drumline equipment,” said Beth Bousfield, Mason High School band director. “Much of it is 15 years old; the typical life cycle is 10 years. We’re elated about LAFCU’s donation.”
The aging equipment now costs more to maintain than to buy new. Some of it needs repair or retuning after every use.
The drumline is the heartbeat of the Bulldog Marching Band, performing at home football games and at community events and parades. Members of the Bulldog drumline participate in the school’s music education program throughout the year and are involved in performances by the pep, jazz and concert bands, and for solo & ensemble concerts and competitions.
The experience has rewards for the students later in life, too. Bousfield said graduates who have been part of the band’s drumline have received college music scholarships and have gone on to play in college and beyond in such bands as Legends Drum & Bugle Corps in Kalamazoo and Motor City Percussion in Detroit.