Spencer Fane LLP is pleased to announce Band of Angels, a charity that provides band and orchestra instruments and music camp scholarships to children in need, as the recipient of the firm’s 2023-2025 charitable grant program in Kansas City. The announcement was made at the February 4 Heart Strings Gala.
As part of its charitable grant program, Spencer Fane will donate $50,000, paid in installments over the next three years, to Band of Angels to support its mission of collecting musical instruments and providing them to kids in need who couldn’t otherwise afford them. With these instruments, students can join their school’s band and orchestra programs.
“We started Band of Angels because we knew this project was important, but at the time, it was just important to us. With this honor, we realize it’s important to others too. And, we appreciate that Spencer Fane believes in what we are doing,” said Band of Angels Chairman Mike Meyer. “Attending music camp is a huge chance for growth for students serious about studying music. We are thrilled by this generous support from Spencer Fane and look forward to sending even more students to summer music camps.”
Band of Angels was formed in 2010 as a not-for-profit partnership between WDAF-TV Fox 4 and Meyer Music. Since then, Band of Angels collected and recycled thousands of instruments and helped students, directors, and schools from over 60 area school districts.
Funds from the grant will go toward student scholarships for the annual summer music camp, which allows students to further their music education beyond the school year and classroom. Campers receive one-on-one attention from instructors that is not available in band or orchestra classes during the school year. For some students, music camp is a place where they can escape troubling situations at home and focus on what brings them joy. As of the end of 2022, Band of Angels has raised more than $350,000 to provide 400 student scholarships.
“We are absolutely thrilled to partner with Band of Angels and to honor them with our next charitable grant in Kansas City. They are a local nonprofit with a ton of heart and at Spencer Fane, we identify with their mission to ensure local students have access to music programs,” said Spencer Fane partner Nate Orr, the lead attorney for the Kansas City Charitable Giving Program.
The Spencer Fane Charitable Giving Program in Kansas City provides significant support to select local nonprofit arts organizations through a $50,000 donation over three years. The program is designed as a rotation so that one new recipient enters the program each year, with another exiting upon completion of its three-year cycle. Current and past recipients include Midwest Music Foundation, Charlotte Street Foundation, Crossroads Preparatory Academy, Lyric Opera Kansas City, Kansas City Friends of Alvin Ailey, Heart of America Shakespeare Festival, ArtsKC-Regional Arts Council, and Kansas City Art Institute.
The program’s primary goal is to encourage long-standing relationships with nonprofit organizations and provide Spencer Fane employees with additional opportunities to become involved with the firm’s charitable causes.
