....OTHERS:

What if you were a HOMELESS CHILD and really had NO SAFE PLACE to go?

 
Nearly 15,000 children sleep in a homeless shelter or in transitional housing every night. Many of these children and their families had lived in regular housing until a parent’s job loss forced them to leave their homes. These numbers are expected to rise over the next few months.

"After our show at the House of Blues in New Orleans, a few of us went down to the New Orleans Jazz Festival to see Buddy Guy, king and wild magician of the electric guitar.  I could go on and on about the tears I shed and the chills I got watching him do all those things he taught Jimi Hendrix to do, and with that inimitable tone, feel and a raging totality in each note that I don’t know if I’ve ever truly witnessed before.  I could go on and on and take up five pages with ease.

But instead, I want to relate something he said – not played – to the crowd.  He had just finished a barn-burning rendition of Hoochie Cootchie Man and he wanted to talk for a minute to us straight.  It’s been hard times in the country, in the world, with people out of work and worrying ‘bout how to make it through, Buddy said.  It’s been hard times for even longer in Louisiana (where Buddy’s from).  And, you can still see evidence of that on the rooftops of hundreds of homes still swamped and shuttered by Katrina.  “But, this is good times for me,” he preached, “cause now everyone suddenly wants to listen to the blues!  Hell, I’ve been telling ya all along -- we’ve been playing this shit for 150 years!”

Last December, on my birthday actually, I decided to spend the evening playing my guitar for the children at the Jackson Avenue shelter in the South Bronx.  Every two weeks, as part of a program run by New York Cares, volunteers bring food, craft projects, reading materials – and in my case, music – to children who do not have homes, nor in most cases, families that are able to offer them anything supplemental in the form of time, knowledge, culture – or, unfortunately, caring.

This was my first time volunteering at the shelter.  The plan for the evening was a Christmas party and we put together a songbook of all the favorite carols of the season.  I did not know what to expect, only that my own life at that particular moment in time held a great deal of uncertainty both on a professional and personal level.  As such, I had spent most of the day feeling somewhat sorry for myself – not something of which I am particularly proud – and was looking forward to getting out of myself.

When I arrived at the shelter, there were about 25 children ranging in ages from five to thirteen.  They did not know me but had been alerted that a girl was going to bring in a guitar and they would get to sing along tonight, so many of them dropped their books and gathered around, excited, asking what was in the big black case.  We formed a big circle on the floor, for no one could wait any longer and there was pizza and cupcakes to be eaten, too, and the guitar came out and we started to sing.

To say that these voices were beautiful, these young faces bright and happy like those of angels; that the music and singing was bringing a joy that eclipsed the cinder block-scented walls, the bars on the windows, the burned out tenements that lined the streets outside, I could go on and on for five pages with ease.  And, still I would not adequately describe the illumination of such an experience, just as I am unable to describe the essentialness of the notes coming from Buddy Guy’s guitar.  It has something to do with the exquisiteness of giving.

When the last "partridge in a pear tree" faded to rounds of applause and dancing, the most extraordinary thing happened.  The children launched into a spirited version of Happy Birthday (the head volunteer had clued them in).  They sang with such glee, knowing that they were surprising me; half of them didn’t even know my name – some of them sang “Miss!”  But, it was so filled with love that it brought me to my knees.  These children, who have NOTHING; who have everything in the world to be unhappy about if they so choose, were giving me something so priceless and pure.  It washed away all sadness, all regret, all feelings of remorse and self-pity that I had arrived with at the shelter that night.  It was easily the best birthday I ever had."  ------SP 

Unfortunately, the Children’s Program at the Jackson Avenue Shelter in the South Bronx has just been discontinued due to citywide budget cuts.  It’s now up to friends and volunteers of the program to try and raise money to keep these enrichment evenings alive.

How can you help Children’s Enrichment Programs at Jackson Avenue Family Shelter?

•    Buy concert tickets - even if you don't go or live in New York
•    Donate directly on the facebook cause page :  Facebook Cause Page  or (cut & past link: http://apps.facebook.com/causes/256730?m=de0957a2)
•    Donate at the concert.
 
To make a donation by mail, please send a check payable to the Citizens Advice Bureau to:
     Citizens Advice Bureau
     Development Office
     2054 Morris Avenue
     Bronx, NY 10453
 
Please write  "Jackson Avenue" on Memo line
 

Please join Lez Zeppelin as they support this cause to raise funds and awareness necessary for the continuance of the Youth Enrichment Programs
at Jackson Avenue Family Shelter in the South Bronx and other shelters throughout NYC.