FALL RIVER: COVID19 closures in late November 2020 may have caused a hiccup to a campaign aimed at raising money to help children of less fortunate families attend music classes at Joyful Sounds, but the fundraiser still proved to be a success.
Joyful Sounds Music Studio in Fall River and Barracuda Heating, based in Fletchers Lake, teamed up to raise money for local families so their children could experience the joy of music education.
“Now more than ever, it has become clear how important connecting with music and the arts are to our overall wellness,” said Louise MacDonald, owner of Joyful Sounds. “We did this in the past and with the help of the Lions Club, we were able to identify families that would benefit from having their children participate in some of our programs.
“What a true blessing this program has been.”
This year it was decided they would hold a week-long Pajama Week at the studio for all of their students.
“The plan was to collect cash donations all week long from our families, and that both Barracuda Heating and Joyful Sounds would match all donations that came in,” said MacDonald.
The week was chosen to be Nov. 23-28. Of course, that is the week the province installed tighter restrictions to deal with COVID19.
“Two days into our Cozy Campaign, we moved to virtual classes and the studio was empty,” said MacDonald. We decided this would not stop our good cause.”
The plan was to hold a “Gift Giving” day in December – where all of students would be receiving a special gift from their teachers before the holidays.
“We would normally give these out in their last class or lesson before Christmas, but we were virtual,” she said. “We had a big drive-thru parking lot party on a Saturday afternoon and announced that we would continue to collect cash donations for our Fund a Family project during that day.”
MacDonald said the response was overwhelming.
“By the end of that day, and with our Pajama Donations, our families provided $450 in cash donations to our cause,” she said. “With Barracuda and Joyful Sounds matching, we now have a total of $1,350 to place towards music classes and lessons for our selected families.”
Amie Ehler, from Barracuda Heating, explained why the Cozy Campaign as it was dubbed was the right fit fore the small family-owned business.
“Both generations have been born, raised and live in Wellington/Fletchers Lake, so being involved means a lot to us,” said Ehler after the cheque was showed off at the studio. “Family and community are why we do what we do and how we continue to do what we do.”
She said this is the companies “why.”
“The community who supports us everyday in our home heating business enables us to support other local businesses, like Joyful Sounds in this case, and families in the very community we grew up and now live in,” said Ehler. “It’s like it has come full circle.”
