November Event! Shriners Hospital :)

It was a smaller event this month, seeing as it was two days after thanksgiving. As you can see we didn’t have many patients from the picture of the houses in the wagon. This last visit was as just as special; the children seemed to really enjoy the music experience. For some it was a better day for them. We will not be doing an event in December due to the holiday, but my family and I will be goi...ng and visiting a couple families there on Christmas day. January will be a big event! We are really looking forward to it and will be giving more information about it later! If you are still interested in adopting an owl, feel free to email Owlbebetterwithmusic@yahoo.com or call 360-936-5821

Sorry It took a while to post, things have been pretty busy!!

Bazaar Results!

Hey everyone! Sorry its been a while since my last update but I have some great news! At the Heritage Bazaar on Saturday Owl Be Better With Music's Booth successfully adopted out 31 owls, but many more adoptions are needed!! A big thanks to all our donors big and small!!! We wouldn’t be here without you!

Heritage Bazaar!!!!

Hey everyone! This Saturday Owl Be Better With Music will have a booth at the Heritage High School Bazaar from 9 to 4! Heritage High School's address is 7825 NE 130th Avenue Vancouver, WA 98682.
At the Bazaar we will be spreading the word about Owl Be Better With Music along with kicking off our Adopt an Owl Fundraiser! If you want to adopt and owl head over to the Bazaar, if you can’t make it email owlbebetterwithmusic@yahoo.com, call 360-936-5821! Please come!!!

A special thanks to Brian Goodman Clament

Today Owl Be Better With Music brought a guitar that was donated by Brian Goodman Clament to Beckem Nimmo at Shriners hospital. His mother laid the guitar by him when he was sleeping and Beckem woke up playing the guitar. It was a moment of joy as he strummed and played the strings, wiggling happily in his bed. Thank you Brain Clament for providing Beckem and his family and Owl Be Better With Music with this joy.

Adopt an owl!!

You can bring a genuine smile to a child who is faced with life altering Health Issues! Owl Be Better With music is hosting an Adopt an Owl Fundraiser! For fifteen dollars you are able to purchase a owl for a sick child in need. We have a limited amount but we need fifteen so every little patient will get a new owl friend. With your adoption of an owl at the end of November you will receive a picture of an owl with its new friend along with a donation receipt for taxable purposes.

For Owl Adoption contact:

360-936-5821.
owlbebetterwithmusic@yahoo.com,
Make check donations to Owl Be Better with Music and send to 15714 NE 42nd Street Vancouver WA 98682

Shriners Hospital 10-26-11

 Trishelle Playing along with Nick Ettlin

 Trishelle and her sister sharing instruments

 Beckem and his mom

 Beckem and Nick

 Owl cookies, A big thanks to Jacivas!

 Trinity loving her new Owl!

T-shirts from Linda Tower and Soft Icon LLC

Zoe, Korina, and Madeline enjoying their T-shirts and Owl cookies!

Group Picture! Ruth Fox, Beckem Nimmo, Owl (Build a bear), Maddy Bennett, Madeline Joel, Zoe, Korina, Nick Ettlin, Banner (Fed Ex),

On October 26^th Owl Be Better with Music had their first event at Shriners hospital, playing for twelve of their patients. We brought two musicians and a neighborhood of build-a-bear box houses. Each child got their own Owl Build a Bear and Owl Be Better with Music T-shirts. The most rewarding part of the day was seeing the joy on the children’s faces. The first child that we worked with was five year old Trishelle Adsuna.  The room was full of joy as she and her little sister passed instruments between each other while Nick Etlin played and sang. It was such a sweet moment watching the two sister’s share and play together, the moment finished with owl cookies from Jacivas bakery. We then moved to the activity room where 5 year old Beckem Nimmo tapped on the keyboard with his mother sitting next to him. The minute Nick took out his guitar Beckem could not take his eyes or his hands off the guitar, positioning the guitar just how he liked it, and never letting Nick stop playing. The excitement in Beckem’s eyes and the pleased look on his mothers face made all the time, planning and money worth every bit. As we continued down the hall from room to room Nick and Ruth gave personal performances for those who were up to it. We came to some rooms that required quiet, so while those children weren’t up to a musical performance they really enjoyed their new owl friend, shirt and cookie.  As we completed all our deliveries I was so excited to let Susan know that three months ago we were donated a guitar by Brian from Fed Ex who just wanted it to go to a new home. Beckem will have his own guitar before he goes into surgery and it will have all new strings and be tuned complements of Jim, the owner of Rivercity Music in Vancouver Wa.   . This event today was a group effort by our two performers Nick and Ruth along with Rivercity  Music  who donated all the instruments  for the patients, T-shirts from Linda Tower and Soft Icon LLC,  Build A Bear ,Fed EX and those amazing cookies from Jacivas Bakery  in the Hawthorn District. Thank you to everyone and creating the most incredible day I have ever witnessed.

NEWS UPDATE!

Owl Be Better With Music will be taking music to Shriners hospital for a small group of patients on October twenty sixth! This is a big moment for us, and I will keep you all updated as to what volunteer needs we will have to have that day. I am very excited about this, this is a very special day and in memory of my papa who is the reason why Owl Be Better With Music is here.

Some new Changes

Sorry there have not been updates recently, Life has been very busy starting senior year and going to talk to hospitals about getting involved. We hopefully have connections with Shriners Hospital in bringing in music to kids with life altering health issues. As I took my tours at the hospitals it occurred to me that even though my focus was kids with cancer, I saw that there were a variety of patients that would enjoy a music experience. This brought me to the decision of changing the program to take in adults and children who has any life changing circumstances. So if you know anyone who is interested in owl be better with music, have them contact us at owlbebetterwithmusic@yahoo.com

A little bit about Owl Be Better With Music

Owl Be better with music is a in home or hospital music program for all ages that introduces and lets children play with a variety of instruments, learn basic notes, and compose their own recorded songs. Owl be better is a non-profit completely free program set up for Ill children who would love to add fun and music into their day activities can be one on one or for a group. There are four branches in our organization, The Corporate branch: Businesses who donate product or funds to help with the costs it takes to run the company whether that be gas money for volunteers, to fee's that any legalized company has to face. The Music Activity Branch: This branch is best for younger patients, but is also fun for older ones also. It is where we bring in volunteers to do fun music activities with the kids. This is the branch where non-musicians can volunteer. There are many things that we do with the time, arts and crafts included if wanted. The Performance Branch: This is where we have performers come in for kids who might be too ill to be able to play in the music activity branch or the Guidance branch. Or it might just be performance for entertainment. This is where we have more mature musicians come in to play for a child. The Guidance Branch: Cancer treatment is very expensive. And with the costs of the Childs treatment can have the effect of ending previous music lessons. In this branch we have teachers come in and volunteer time for free so these kids can continue playing. There is also the option of having a jam session if the child wants it. If a child has never played an instrument and may want to start we will figure out a teacher for them. So what does this cost to the parents of the kids? Absolutely nothing, we are hoping to get as many volunteers and donations so we can help more people. So how can you get involved? Email Owlbebetterwithmusic@yahoo.com with your name, abilities and story. We will send out a monthly newsletter on upcoming events, new members, and the kids we will be helping will also have a spot in our newsletter.