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PEOPLE-TO-PEOPLE Helping Children Through Music S igma Alpha Iota has been sponsoring the People-to-People music project since 1964. Since then, thousands of musicians across the world have received assistance thanks to the generosity of sisters, chapters, and friends of the fraternity. The history of the project is rich with success stories from across the globe and from our own backyard; caring individuals and committed chapters determined to make a difference have done just that in ways great and small. I would like to share one of our successes from this past year. Nicole Cox, Theta Pi initiate and member of the International Chapter posted a notice on the SAI Listserv for a Certified Music Therapist. Nicole is the coordinator for The Master's Dawn, an autism intervention program at The Master's Academy, a small private school on the island of Providenciales, part of the Turks and Caicos Islands located just south of the Bahamas. She was seeking an SAI who would be hired to serve as both a music teacher for the Academy and music therapist to their students. After reading her notice, I contacted Nicole and asked if the People-to-People project could be of assistance as the Academy continued to build its music programs. Her reply was a grateful, "Yes." Over a period of six months during 2010, I worked with chapters and individuals from across the United States who were committed to assisting Nicole and the children at The Master's Academy. We determined that the most efficient method of shipping to the Turks and Caicos Islands would be through a freight company in Florida, so all donations were sent to Central Florida. From my home, I could then prepare the materials for safe transport on a container ship. First to offer assistance was Delynne West, Music Specialist at Springhill Elementary in Alexander, AR. She, with help from colleagues in her district, sent fourteen boxes of music education materials for delivery to the Academy. Next to offer assistance was the Central New Jersey Alumnae Chapter (CNJAC). After CLICK FOR MORE 4 Above, The Central New Jersey Alumnae Chapter sent seven boxes of music education materials for The Master's Academy. At right, Bob Younce and Chris Shortancy of Saddle Creek Transportation with People-to-People Director Dr. Valente and pallet of materials for People-to-People. generously donating and shipping six boxes of Silver Burdett text books to the Liimba School in Zambia, the CNJAC sent seven boxes of music education materials for The Master's Academy, making a total of twenty-one boxes of music education materials for the school. Executive Director Ruth Sieber Johnson also played an important role in preparing this shipment to The Master's Academy. In November I had the pleasure of performing at the Society of Composers, Inc. annual conference held at the University of South Carolina in Columbia. Ruth drove to Columbia to deliver instruments, books, and music to me which I then brought back home to Florida to add to the already impressive pile of donated materials. The assistance of the New York Alumnae Chapter was crucial in fulfilling the most difficult instrument request from The Master's Academy. Following their annual benefit concert to support local, national, and international music philanthropies, the The American Logistics Aid Network engages the supply chain community to support humanitarian relief efforts. ALAN makes supply chain-related donation needs visible to the logistics industry and establishes an efficient process for providing goods and services through its web portal: alanaid.org. PAN PIPES SPRING 2011 sai-national.org chapter treasurer, Eta Mu initiate Rosemary Metcalf, wrote to me expressing the chapter's commitment to making a monetary donation to the People-to-People Project. The timing could not have been better. Working closely with Rosemary, a new set of Suzuki Chimes was purchased, drop-shipped to me in Florida, and included on the pallet of materials. As the People-to-People Project has grown, so have PEOPLE continued on page 6 Saddle Creek is a nationwide third-party logistics company integrating warehousing, transportation, contract packaging and fulfillment services to provide comprehensive supply chain services for their customers. The company places significant emphasis on giving back to the community, and all associates are provided opportunities to share their resources with worthy causes. saddlecrk.com