When the people of Lancaster were invited to invest in their community during the ExtraOrdinary Give they stepped up to the plate and made a huge impact for good to the tune of $4.6 million!  How will this investment grow?  We cannot speak for every CBO but we can for SWAN.

Your investment will help children whose parent are incarcerated beat the odds.  They are stigmatized by the fact that children of the incarcerated are 70% more likely than other children to end up in prison.  Are they really problem children?  No, they are simply children with problems and we are adults with solutions!  Allowing SWAN to continue running in Lancaster means that adults will be teaching children music lessons and using that for a platform to mentor them.  We will continue placing them into ensembles that will then go out into the Lancaster community and give back by performing at the Water Street Mission, nursing homes and the community at large.  What character qualities are being trained? Well it certainly takes courage, grit, perseverance and discipline to perform for an audience.  It also takes self control, the use of problem solving skills, patience ambition and confidence to play an instrument.  Aren’t these the skills that help us all succeed?

Look out in the community for the car with the SWAN raft on top. When you see that our children are likely performing at a venue nearby.  That also means your dollars are at work.  Thank you and may none of our children ever call a prison cell home.