2011 Fundraising campaign
Dear CAMMAC members and friends,
This has been an exciting year for CAMMAC. After three years of struggle, we finally settled our lawsuit with an out-of-court settlement. Then, as promised to us, the Quebec Ministry of Culture topped up that settlement with a grant of $753,000 to allow us to undertake the many repairs needed on our new building to finally get it fully functional. Most of the repairs are of a highly complex and technical nature and require specialized engineering services. The principal one as many of you know is that our septic system needs to be greatly enlarged as it is much too small for our needs.
We have a dynamic Executive Director, Marc Brunelle, and a dedicated Board who have appointed an Infrastructure Committee which includes two engineers to oversee this major project. It is our hope that all work will be completed by next summer.
We were pleased that our summer program had a larger number of participants than the previous year and we are working on improving our rentals.
Looking to the future, we have two priorities. One is to ensure that our building is used on a year-round basis to its full capacity. We are, therefore, doing a lot of thinking about programs which will achieve that objective while focusing as much as possible on our cultural mission.
The second priority is to maintain (and indeed improve) the physical infrastructure at Lake MacDonald site so we can continue to make music in the place we all know and love
First, let me tell you about our programming plans. CAMMAC's raison d'être is music, particularly classical and to a lesser extent jazz and world music. In today's world, these forms of music are being marginalized. Music education, once available to all students, is now a specialized area in school systems. It is rare to see classical music or jazz on TV. Even CBC radio has reduced its classical programming. The decline in popularity of classical and jazz is a worrisome trend.
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So we asked ourselves what CAMMAC could to do to raise awareness, and especially appreciation, of the music we so love to play, sing, and listen to.
Introducing young people to the joys of making music is an obvious place to start. However, if we are to invest in new school age programming we need to ensure that such programming is well-conceived. We need to create lasting partnerships with schools and school boards, as there is no point to beginning such programming on the basis of a grant for a year or two and then having to end the programming when the grant runs out. We must look for programs which can allow us to cover the cost of our staff involved and yet find a way to keep the programs reasonably priced so as to attract schools and participants.
Creating a sustainable program that will introduce children and young people to the joys of making music requires an investment of time and money. Your donation will help fund the development of such a program, allowing us to hire a music educator to create a program and work with the school system to bring young people to the Lake Macdonald music centre. Our objective is to welcome our first young people in the fall of 2012.
We believe that school programming is a good avenue for us to follow as it introduces young people to CAMMAC and, hopefully, some of them will come back for our summer programs.
With regard to the physical infrastructure at Lake MacDonald, we also still have a number of challenges ahead of us. The monies that we have on hand are only for the repairs to the new building. We still have lots of repairs to undertake on the buildings we know and love: the studios, the Lake House, the boathouse, the Attic, and Mozart. These repairs are important if we are to continue to attract both our members, our renters, and new clients and programs.
We are anxious also to get on with some desperately needed repairs on our facilities other than the main building. One area which has become urgent has been to do the roofs of the studios. These roofs are over 30 years old and are in terrible shape. We have patched and re-patched them and we must go ahead and replace them. But each roof costs approximately $2000 to undertake. We did manage to do the roof of the boathouse this summer and the roof of Studio Little (which itself needs to be jacked up as it is sinking and needs a new window).
So, this year, in our only fundraising letter of the year, we are asking if you can join us in investing in the future of music by supporting a start-up fund for music education or, if you prefer, by helping improve CAMMAC’s infrastructure by supporting a fund to allow us to put new roofs on our studios. Your gifts will be put to good use and you will help CAMMAC both to improve its facilities and to prepare its future programming.
I know how many demands there are on all of us these days. Each person is in a different situation. I know that I have had a lot of expenses recently putting a new roof on my own house. Nonetheless, I am going to give $500 to CAMMAC this year. Will you join me in helping us to solidify our new progress?
I know that not everyone can afford $500. If you can’t afford that much, give what you are able to give. All gifts help us toward our goal. But some of you can afford to give more than $500. If you can give $1000, great! That would be a big help. If you can give more than that, why not contact me and let me know what size gift you might be able to make and I can tell you what options might be available and if we can give you some recognition with a small plaque.
For example, if you give $2000, we could put your name (or in memory of so and so) on a plaque in a studio.
Wouldn’t it be great if someone gave us money for some ergonomically correct and lightweight stackable chairs for the concert hall? Could we find someone to finance the renovation of the boathouse? As you can see, there are lots of possibilities.
If you are in a position to give an amount larger than $1000, why not phone me (during the day is best) at 819-772-1774 to discuss your possible interest (no obligation and confidentiality is, of course, respected). Or, you could drop me a line at harryqualman@gmail.com.
We have come a long way over the past 10 years or so by working together. We have built a magnificent new building. We have avoided bankruptcy when the financial crunch came following that construction. We have kept the faith as we fought for our rights in the lawsuit. We have now a year of great progress ahead.
It is time to further solidify that progress. Some of you are members of the Friends of CAMMAC (as I am). We give an amount of money each month to CAMMAC via withdrawals from our bank accounts or credit cards. If you prefer to support CAMMAC in that way and are not currently a member of Friends of CAMMAC, the attached form allows you to join. Please join me in sending a gift to CAMMAC when you receive this letter. You will get a charitable receipt from us and you will be helping an organization which has helped so many amateur musicians in the past nearly 60 years.
I am counting on your support to make this coming year one of the best that CAMMAC has ever known.
Yours sincerely,
Harry Qualman
President, CAMMAC Foundation and member of Infrastructure Committee
P.S. We have so much to be proud of at CAMMAC. We have maintained a wonderful organization for nearly 60 years. Let’s continue to build it and to make it a place for our children and grandchildren for another 60 years.
THANKS SO MUCH FOR YOUR HELP NOW AND IN THE PAST!