RISING SUN, IN – Thanks to your donations, Keeping the Blues Alive Foundation donated a brand new Student Model Prelude by Conn-Slemer Alto Saxophone to the music program at Switzerland County Elementary School! “Our school is the larger of the two elementary schools in our district with an average of about 485-500 students,” Ms. Gasser says. Ms. Rachael Gasser teaches music at SCES.   “Our 5th and 6th-grade bands have more than doubled the past three years with up to 63 members strong. We are a struggling and low socioeconomic status school and community with 59% of our students eligible for free or reduced lunch,” she says.  “A majority of our students and families are not able to rent a band instrument from a music store and therefore rely on playing school-owned instruments.” Due to the increasing student numbers, the instrument inventory at Switzerland County Elementary is in desperate need of more instruments of higher quality and durability. “Our band students perform twice a year for our community as well as on a monthly basis for our school in our Character Counts parades. My students are still excited about band and need more instruments and supplies.” Ms. Gasser tells us more about their needs. “This saxophone will be used by a variety of students in financial need for many years at our school. With such an increase in student numbers, we need your help to increase our school instruments. With 59% of our school on free and reduced lunch, our average family can not afford to rent or buy a band instrument from a music store. Therefore, we provide school-owned instruments for those students. Every saxophone in our entire district has been played by various students in financial need for the past three years and we need more. I will never turn away a student from band because they can not afford to rent or buy an instrument. It is my educational responsibility to offer and provide quality band instruction to all students no matter their financial situation. Please help us increase our instrument inventory with quality instruments for our beginning band students.” Thanks to the generosity of Joe Bonamassa fans and music lovers like you, Keeping the Blues Alive purchased this saxophone for Ms. Gasser’s classroom. Ms. Gasser expresses her gratitude: Dear Keeping The Blues Alive Foundation, Inc., Your generosity is astounding and I am so excited to share this amazing news and new instrument with my students! Our band program will benefit so much for years and years to come from this quality saxophone. Thank you for helping keep music education alive and well in our school and community. With gratitude, Ms. Gasser Keeping the Blues Alive Foundation is a 501c3 organization based in Deerfield Beach, FL. We fund music educational projects and scholarships in schools all across the country.  To date, we have supplied over 450 schools with new music instruments, supplies, sheet music and more! If you wish to be a part of the next project, please consider making a donation by clicking here!  As always, thank you for your support of music education and preserving blues music as a true American artform!