Community Outreach
2019 Programming
Stephen Sifflard & Cam M. – The Taste of Music – December 2019
The Taste Of Music; Music and Food Pairings Benefit. Artists Kara DioGuardi, Jeff Cohen, and guests will perform songs they paired with The Front Porch chefs. A very special tasting menu was designed to connect Music and the Culinary Arts. Benefiting Inspired Nation.
Cam M. – Tour Music Fest – December 2019
Tour Music Fest aims to empower emerging artists, by transmitting the spirit of artistic and musical growth, with the aim of adding artistic and cultural value to the music of the future.We believe that each of our participating artists can give the world their part of artistic value, our goal is that to accompany them along the road to discovery and development of their talent and their artistic identity.
Jake Wild & Lilou Bouhier – Camp Sunrise The Wild Talent Show – August 2019
Sunrise Day Camp is the first and only day camp in the world, offered free of charge, for children with cancer and their siblings. Four renowned pediatric oncology facilities had signed on as affiliates, one million dollars had been raised, and the campgrounds prepared. That summer 96 children, including siblings, rediscovered the magic of friendship and the joy of play at the Henry Kaufmann Campground in Wheatley Heights – all free of charge. The sounds of medical monitors were replaced with laughter, and the feelings of cold machines and sharp needles quickly disappeared with warm hugs from counselors and new friends.
Lexi James – Crafts for a Cause – April 2019
2016 NES Winner Lexi James performed at Crafts for a Cause Beer Festival fundraiser in North Andover, Mass. This event benefitted the adolescent/young adult program at Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center. Read Article
Lilou Bouhier – Songwriting Workshop at Trimble House – March 2019
Berklee College Of Music and Trimble House Nashville hosted music students and aspiring artists over a long weekend in Nashville, TN.
Manu Ritchie & Lydia Barnes – Portsmouth Music and Arts Center – March 2019
Teen Songwriters in the round was a peer-led group by New England Sings’ finalists Manu Ritchie and Lydia Barnes. Students learned how to tell their story and express themselves through songs in a collaborative and supportive peer environment. This workshop is a collaboration with Inspired Nation, New England Sings and PMAC. Read article and listen to songs.
2018 Programming
2018 Nashville Songwriter Association International/INSPIRED NATION Songwriting Workshop pop-up at Trimble house
Kara DioGuardi invited young songwriters to Trimble House, a cooperative for creators in Nashville, to listen to their music and give feedback. GAYLE was one of the songwriters to perform a song and get signed.
Elizabeth Seton Pediatric Center
In April of 2018, Inspired Nation visited the beautiful Elizabeth Seton Pediatric Center in Yonkers, New York with 8 rockstar finalists from the 2017 Tri-State Rocks competition to meet and perform for the residents. This one-of-a-kind musical collaboration was a day of togetherness where children of different ages and abilities bonded over the healing power of music and the arts and its ability to empower and inspire. Each finalist performed one song in front of two separate groups of residents, in a day filled with excitement, laughter, and love. Elizabeth Seton’s work and infectious positive energy reverberated throughout the entire day, and will be the first of many collaborations with Inspired Nation. To learn more about Elizabeth Seton Pediatric Center, click here.
WHIN
This exciting new Charter School in Washington Heights is bringing music back to the curriculum and changing kids lives in the process. Modeled after the celebrated El Sistema program, Washington Heights and Inward Music Community Charter School fosters innovative teaching methods, imbues students with a love of learning, and facilitates the development of community through music, academic, and social inclusion. We are excited to contribute to their mission by assisting them this 2018 in composing a school song centered around their core pillars and values. It is through collaborations with organizations such as WHIN that change begins on a community level, and we couldn’t be more excited to join them. To learn more about WHIN, click here.
Zebra Crossings
Zebra Crossings was one of our amazing beneficiaries last year in our New England Sings Competition, and we are so excited to be joining them this summer. We will have 6-8 of our New England Sings finalists join the Zebra Crossing’s campers in beautiful Dover, NH to mentor on performance and songwriting, with a final performance at the end of the camp. It is engagement opportunities like this that allow kids to give back to their communities and connect through music with their peers on a deeper, more meaningful level. To learn more about Zebra Crossings, click here.
All updates on 2018 programming and community outreach can be seen on any of our social media platforms found above.
Who We Have Supported
Sunrise Association
Providing memorable summers since 2006 for children ages 3 1/2–16, Sunrise Association Day Camps bring the simple pleasures of childhood back to children struggling with cancer, changing months of loneliness and isolation into summers filled with sunshine, laughter and happiness. And because they are day camps, it allows children to continue their medical treatment and enjoy the comfort and safety of their own homes at night. There are currently eight Sunrise Association Day Camps — three in New York (Long Island, Pearl River and Staten Island), three in Israel, Aurora Day Camp in Atlanta, Georgia and Horizon Day Camp in Baltimore, Maryland. Sunrise Association Day Camps are affiliated with 30 renowned hospitals and medical centers around the world.
The fun continues year-round with Sunrise Sundays and Fun-days, offering children exciting activities and events when school is not in session. For those children undergoing treatment in pediatric oncology units of participating hospitals, Sunrise on Wheels is a one-of-a-kind program that provides hours of Sunrise-fun.
Sunrise Day Camp-Pearl River is a proud member of the Sunrise Association, whose mission is to bring back the joys of childhood to children with cancer and their siblings world-wide, through the creation of Day Camps, Year-Round Programs and In-Hospital Recreational Activities, all offered free of charge.
Kids Helping Kids
Kids Helping Kids is a not-for-profit organization based in Stamford, Connecticut. We were founded in 2009 by Lexi Kelley, who was just 12 years old at the time. Following a serious car accident, Lexi wanted to create a platform for kids to experience the power of giving, as she had experienced during her recovery. The mission of Kids Helping Kids is to develop leadership skills in middle school and high school children through youth-led service projects. Every project is initiated, managed, and led by our youth who actively work to turn their passion into action and positively impact their community. Programs are offered at no cost and we have opportunities for youth to participate at different levels, including an ambassador program and a youth advisory council which provides youth voice and perspective to the organization. We believe strongly in the power of kids to serve as leaders and changemakers to create positive change in their communities and beyond!
Y2Y
Y2Y Network opened Y2Y Harvard Square in December 2015, based on the belief that all young people should have a safe place to sleep and the resources they need to succeed. The founding team met while volunteering at the Harvard Square Homeless Shelter (HSHS), a student-run homeless shelter for adults operated by the Phillips Brooks House Association. Through conversations with community partners and young adults experiencing homelessness, they learned that while young adults consistently report feeling unsafe in adult shelters, they felt safe at HSHS given its youth-driven structure. With only 12 existing beds in Greater Boston specifically for young adults at the time, the community deemed it critical to meet the need for safe and affirming youth-specific emergency shelter. Y2Y convened a broad, diverse group of stakeholders, and opened the nation’s first student-run shelter for young adults 18-24 experiencing homelessness: Y2Y Harvard Square. Since opening Y2Y Harvard Square has operated a student-run model with three key pillars: sanctuary, pathways out of homelessness and advocacy and leadership development, serving over 350 young adults.
Maria Fareri Children’s Hospital
Maria Fareri Children’s Hospital, a member of the Westchester Medical Center Health
Network, is the children’s hospital for New York’s Hudson Valley and Fairfield County in Connecticut.
The hospital provides children and their families with lifesaving and life-changing services, many of which are found nowhere else in the region. These services include a comprehensive pediatric hematology and oncology program; the area’s most advanced pediatric cardiology and cardiothoracic surgery service; the region’s only pediatric organ transplant program as well as its only Level I pediatric trauma and burn service; the area’s only dedicated pediatric intensive care unit and its regional neonatal intensive care unit, which cares for the region’s tiniest and sickest newborns.
Combined with world-class pediatric care is a special healing environment developed from the point-of-view of patients and families as well as doctors and nurses. The special environment puts children and their families at ease and gets the whole family feeling better.
A donation made to Maria Fareri Children’s Hospital enhances services and ensures the hospital stays on the cutting edge of medical technology and research.
For more information, please visit MariaFareriChildrens.org.
Kids in Crisis
Kids in Crisis provides 24-hour support to help children and families resolve conflict.
Crisis Counselors work through any situation and meet face-to-face for intervention
and assistance. For those who need more than short-term counseling, Kids in Crisis offers its two emergency shelters in Cos Cob, both licensed by the State of Connecticut: the Crisis Nursery for infants and young children and the Teen House for adolescents. These homes, complete with a fully-staffed, state-of-the-art medical clinic, provide therapeutic care in a safe, nurturing environment for up to 20 children at any one time.
Additionally, Kids in Crisis provides prevention programs throughout Fairfield County, Connecticut. The prevention programs include SafeTalk, a series of workshops for elementary schools, which teaches children to be safe from bullying and abuse, and TeenTalk, which offers student outreach counselors to area high schools to help adolescents with personal and family pressures.
ArtWorks
The mission of ArtWorks, The Naomi Cohain Foundation is to improve the healthcare
experience of pediatric patients by providing programs in the creative and performing arts. ArtWorks provides children and young adults facing chronic and life-limiting illnesses, and their families, access to empowering and expressive art programs.
Founded by Daniela Mendelsohn, ArtWorks is inspired by the life of her late cousin, Naomi Cohain. At the age of 14, Naomi was diagnosed with late-stage Bone Cancer and found herself spending more and more time in the hospital setting. Working closely with an art therapist, her creative moments became more significant and Naomi’s passion for the arts provided a vital emotional outlet and source of comfort throughout her illness. Naomi’s story lives on through ArtWorks, inspiring others and serving as a testament to the healing powers of the creative process.
York County Family Fund
“New England Sings helped many families 
living on the edge in York County, ME.
They are existing from paycheck to paycheck. One unexpected expense can mean the
difference between staying in a home or being on the street. The York County Family Fund has been there in York County to keep children safely at home when unexpected financial situations occur in their families.” Dede Cadieux, President
My Breast Cancer Support
My Breast Cancer Support is an independent NH 501(c)3 non-profit organization that provides financial and emotional support to breast cancer patients throughout the
Greater Seacoast area of New Hampshire and Southern Maine.
First Parish of York Outreach
Through the proceeds of New England Sings, thirty-six
York area youth and chaperones journeyed to Frederick, MD for a weeklong work camp. Hosted by First Parish Outreach, participants repaired and painted homes for people in need. These work camps include youth from around the nation who collaborate and develop group
leadership and team-building skills to accomplish common goals. The trips are designed to help both the residents and the youth: by completing the home repair work and by showing the residents that someone cares about them; and by having the youth learn to reach out to others in need, both with their service and their compassionate interactions with the residents.
Enough Abuse Campaign
“According to the U.S. Department of Education, 10% percent of
K-12 students report unwanted sexual contact with school personnel – usually a teacher or coach. Funding from New England Sings helped support the development of the Enough Abuse Campaign’s new state-of-the-field e-learning course on child sexual abuse prevention for schools. Importantly, this resource will help school personnel identify and respond to inappropriate behaviors of adults before they can ever escalate to sexual abuse. This is true prevention.” Jetta Bernier, Executive Director
Ogunquit Playhouse
The Ogunquit Playhouse produces five exciting Musicals each season, with performances Tuesday through Sunday from May to November. The Ogunquit Playhouse, a not-for-profit organization, remains unparalleled in its commitment to
provide the highest quality musical theatre, with the best talent in the industry!
The Ogunquit Playhouse is one of Maine’s cultural jewels and a cornerstone of America’s theatrical heritage. Over its 80-year history of producing the highest quality theatre, it has earned the title of “America’s Foremost Summer Theatre” and is one of the last of the great Summer Theatres from the Straw Hat Circuit still producing traditional live musical theatre.
The Jimmy Fund
The Jimmy Fund solely supports Boston’s Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, raising funds
for adult and pediatric cancer care and research to improve the chances of survival for cancer patients around the world. Since its founding in 1948, the Jimmy Fund has raised millions of dollars through thousands of community fundraising events. The story of the Jimmy Fund is one of grassroots involvement — of thousands of people organizing bake sales, lemonade stands, runs, walks, golf tournaments, dances, and softball games to raise money for cancer research and care. The funds raised through New England Sings will be earmarked for pediatric cancer patient care and research.