Retire-to Volunteering

076 Jennifer Crews—Desert Sounds Volunteers and Music—Making a Difference for Students A 14 year old voluntarily helping a friend has inspired a movement that now reaches nearly 600 students each year and is growing. Jeremy and his friend played in the high school band until the friend’s parents divorced and he no longer had a trumpet to play. In their school district, funds were tight and consequently parents had to provide most of the instruments. Jeremy convinced his friend to switch to a clarinet, which the school did have, but neither the school nor the friend’s dad could afford to buy the reeds for the instrument. Jeremy found a job and dedicated his earnings to his friend so that he could play in the band. His selfless action became the Jeremy Project, which is now Desert Sounds. The mission of Desert Sounds, based in the Phoenix area, is to provide children and youth access to music education. Research confirms what parents see when their children begin to play an instrument: Because music engages bot