Throughout December, we are highlighting each of the organizations featured in our Jersey Give-Back Guide, which is a website designed to help you learn about some of New Jersey’s most effective nonprofits as you are thinking about making your year-end donations. On Day 5 of the “15 Days of Generating Generosity” we are featuring the first of the four El Sistema-inspired programs in New Jersey: Sister Cities Girlchoir.
EL SISTEMA
El Sistema is a music training program designed to build self esteem, leadership, teamwork and music skills for disadvantaged kids. Their approach emphasizes working as a team in an ensemble, encouraging students to teach and learn from one another, while also experiencing the joy and fun of musical learning. El Sistema produces truly talented musicians, and it is not an exaggeration to say that it has dramatically changed the lives of hundreds of thousands of our nation’s neediest kids. We are thrilled to have FOUR unique El Sistema programs in New Jersey. Donate to one nearest you: Camden, Newark, Paterson or Union City.
SISTER CITIES GIRLCHOIR (CAMDEN)
Sister Cities Girlchoir empowers at-risk girls by building resilience, leadership, mastery and connection through a comprehensive choral training academy that invests in the unique potential of adolescent girls to break the cycle of intergenerational poverty and transform their communities. The program is research-based, and although a music program is an uncommon poverty intervention, SCG is modeled on the powerful impact that investments in the lives of at-risk girls make for a city block, a neighborhood, a city….for the world.
RELATED READING:
- This TEDx talk by Sister Cities Girlchoir founder Alysia Lee is an inspiring, must-see video: A song can change a girl, a girl can change the world.
RESOURCES
- To learn more about Sister Cities Girlchoir, please visit their website.
- Ready to make a donation? Ok! Please go to the Jersey Give-Back Guide, and click on El Sistema. With just a few easy clicks, you can help girls grow into confident women through the power of music.
REMINDER
- The Dodge Foundation is offering $1,000 challenge grants to each of the organizations featured in the Jersey Give-Back Guide. To be eligible, each organization must receive at least 50 donations through the Guide by December 31st. Help them reach their goal and get that extra $1,000!