IN TEMPO
NEWS OF NOTE
THE BROWN FAMILY FOUNDATION CHALLENGE COMES TO A MILESTONE CLOSE !
In 2016 , The Eddie C . and C . Sylvia Brown Family Foundation gave a generous challenge grant to OrchKids : $ 500,000 over five years , requiring $ 100,000 to be raised from the African American community each year in order to meet their inspirational match .
$ 1 Million Goal
99 %
This challenge has given OrchKids the opportunity to grow in tremendous ways : in the number of young people reached , in the number of schools served , in the professional growth of program teachers and staff , and especially in the number of new OrchKids donors . Consider that since 2016 , OrchKids has : increased the number of students served during the school year by 81 %; doubled its number of performing ensembles ; increased the number of students attending outside summer programs by 128 %; and increased the number of students in the summer program by 50 %!
In its fifth and final year , 2020 , and despite the extraordinary challenges of the pandemic , OrchKids raised a total of $ 97,288.11 in qualifying matching gifts . Although we may have fallen short of goal , The Brown Family Foundation continued to lead by example , recognizing OrchKids ’ commitment to supporting students and families hardest hist by the pandemic and in turn honoring their full $ 100,000 matching pledge commitment .
While this challenge grant has now come to a close , the BSO and OrchKids families remain forever grateful to Eddie and Sylvia Brown , as well as to every Brown Challenge donor , for helping us to reach this milestone of philanthropic investment and , in turn , service to our community .
THANK YOU TO MARYLAND LEGISLATORS
The BSO has been on an extraordinary journey – a journey in which our elected leaders continue to play a vital role , and whereby there was important progress during February .
We appreciate that the General Assembly and the Governor have the incredibly difficult job of determining how taxpayer dollars are invested , and understand that in making those decisions , judicious people can reach different heartfelt and principled conclusions . We are deeply grateful that , this past month , the Maryland General Assembly reaffirmed that the BSO should be among the State ’ s funded priorities by overriding the gubernatorial veto of critically important legislation passed during Session 2020 .
These bills ( HB1685 / SB1065 ), as
recommended by the Workgroup on the BSO , outlined the State ’ s role as a partner in the BSO ’ s multi-year turnaround and road to financial stability through the appropriation of multi-year bridge funding in FYs 2022 - 2026 .
Read more about the importance of this forward-looking bridge , and what it means for the BSO ’ s ability to stick to our plans , emerge stronger , and enrich the lives of even more Marylanders , by visiting
BSOmusic . org / Updates .
2 BALTIMORE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA