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File #: 0524-2012    Version: 1
Type: Ordinance Status: Passed
File created: 3/1/2012 In control: Administration Committee
On agenda: 4/2/2012 Final action: 4/4/2012
Title: To authorize the City Clerk and the Recreation and Parks Director to enter into contract with The Harmony Project for the purpose of targeting at-risk youth by providing positive youth development through year-round music lessons and to authorize the Department of Recreation and Parks to monitor the contract; and to authorize the appropriation and expenditure of $50,000.00 from the Neighborhood Initiatives Fund; and to declare an emergency. ($50,000.00)
Explanation
The Harmony Project is a non-profit organization committed to diversity, philanthropy, community service, the environment, and the celebration of the human spirit through the performing arts. In 2008 and 2009, the organization was selected by the President's Committee on the Arts and the Humanities as one of the best arts-based non-profits in the nation.

The Harmony Project shares its name and purpose with its 135-plus member choir which blends diversity, philanthropy and music. The choir is open to anyone, and has attracted diverse participants from throughout central Ohio. Through two performance seasons, The Harmony Project has been successful in meeting its mission and has made exceptional contributions to the Columbus community through hands-on volunteerism, and through charitable fundraising. Among these contributions, The Harmony Project, through performances and fundraising efforts, cleaned and refurbished Blackburn Recreation Center for After-School All-Stars, cleaned and mulched beds and playgrounds for Beatty Recreation Center, collected 4000+ toys and gift cards for children and teens in Central Ohio, collected 100+ bicycles for children and teens of Franklin County Children Services, adopted families through Center for Healthy Families and answered wish lists, and provided 300 hours of service to Mid-Ohio Foodbank.

The Harmony Project has launched a new initiative - Project Hope - designed to build bridges between underserved children in Columbus who lack music resources in their schools and communities with children who are the beneficiaries of schools and community-funded arts programs for the purposes of interaction, education, and personal growth. Set in many of the Settlement Houses in Columbus, the program will promote positive child development through weekly music lessons, conversation, and art and service projects, culminating in a live concert performance.

To this point, The Harmony Project has been funded through the financi...

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