Wyse Technology Donates Laptops!

The outpouring of support and encouragement has been extraordinary! In addition to several pledged donations and musical instruments already in boxes on their way down to me, I received this e-mail from Wyse Technology:

Jay, this is great. We would like to donate to Ninos Del Lago couple of Wyse X90 laptops for you to take with you to Guatemala – they are not musical instruments – but teachers and students can use these low-cost and secure Web Computers to access information regarding music on the Internet.

I can not thank Tarkan, friend and President/CEO of Wyse Technology, enough for this incredibly generous contribution to the project! Not will these laptops allow the children the the latest in technological access, they are the greenest, most energy-efficient computers on the market! Learn more at www.wyse.com

Website and "Donate" Button!

Just put the first touches together for www.MusicForGuatemala.com, where I plan to blog about the adventure, upload photo and video, and generally just keep everyone up-to-date on the progress of the project.

Also...DONATE BUTTON!

You can now make electronic donations through Paypal. Please click the button above and donate to your heart's content!

Help Spread Music to Guatemala!

"Perhaps travel cannot prevent bigotry, but by demonstrating that all peoples cry, laugh, eat, worry, and die... it can introduce the idea that if we try and understand each other, we may even become friends."

- Maya Angelou

Friends and Family -

It is with much enthusiasm that I write you today. I have spent the past month finalizing my summer project and wish to share it with you and seek your help.

I have connected with Ninos Del Lago, a non-profit organization in San Pedro, Guatemala that provides education, healthcare, and nutrition to under-privileged children in the region. I have offered to help build a music department for their school so that these children can also experience the beauty of music and obtain the sense of human connection that comes with it.

My plan, over the next two weeks before leaving, is to gather as many musical instruments and donations as possible and then purchase several more instruments upon arrival. We will then have an opening ceremony in which we donate the instruments to the school. Over the following few months, my days will consist of studying Spanish at San Pedro Spanish School in the mornings and teaching music to Los Ninos Del Lago in the afternoon.

How can you help?

• Make a monetary donation. I am working with Ninos Del Lago to try and set them up a Google Checkout account for electronic donations. Until then, please make checks out to "Asociación Comunitaria Educativa Niños del Lago" and send to:
  

Jay Stone
3285 NW 63 St.
Boca Raton, FL 33496

At the risk of sounding like Sally Struthers, there is no donation too small. $5, $10 - whatever you can give to support music education to children in Guatemala.

• Donate musical instruments. IIf you are in New York or Florida, please e-mail me and I will pick up instruments from you in person. If you are from elsewhere, please e-mail me and we will work out arrangements for you to ship the instruments to me. I will also be collecting small but valuable items like medicine and vitamins if you wish to donate these.
  

• JOIN THE FACEBOOK CAUSE! I'm helping the Director establish an online donation account so my hope is that you will soon be able to make donations electronically. Until then, please mail checks and join the Facebook Cause to stay tuned for updates.
  

Keep track of the project - if you want to stay up to date on project progress, check out photo uploads, and view some HD videos of the mission, please subscribe to the blog!




Muchas gracias! Please let me know if you have any additional questions!

Jay Stone