Strings for a Cause

Strings for a Cause

Fiddlershop has been donating instruments, strings, bows, and other music supplies to Blume Haiti since 2016 through a partnership with South Florida double bassist David Einhorn, one of the volunteer teachers. But Blume, a registered non-profit organization, also depends 100% on donations to provide hundreds of scholarships for impoverished students, training for Haitian teachers, and resources for year-round programs and summer camps that feature youth orchestras, chamber music, concert bands, jazz ensembles, and private lessons. Blume’s teachers from abroad are volunteers who pay their own way each year to Haiti to teach.

“I’ve worked or volunteered with many youth music programs in the United States and abroad, and Blume Haiti is by far the most exciting and effective, even though it operates in some of the most challenging conditions imaginable,” Einhorn said.

When Einhorn noted that Blume manages its entire portfolio on a shoe string budget – a more fitting phrase might be a ”violin string” budget” – Fiddlershop owners Pierre and Michael Holstein came up with the idea for “Strings for a Cause” Campaign. For every purchase of its $32.99 string sets available online for the next 7 days, Fiddlershop will donate $10 to Blume Haiti.

"We've been very fortunate, and we want to help others," said Michael Holstein of Fiddlershop. "The Strings for a Cause Campaign is a creative way to do just that."

Blume Haiti is of course about more than music. In a country with frequent political, economic and social upheavals, the consistency and discipline required to study music instills the life skills young people need to move forward. As explained by Fritz Valescot, founder of the Dessaix-Baptiste Music School where Blume operates a summer camp in Jacmel, Haiti, no matter the hardships young Haitians face, “music gives them back their dignity.”

The “Strings for a Cause” Campaign runs only from Friday, October 25th through Friday November 1st, so please buy your strings now if you’d like to support music for young people in Haiti! You can purchase your strings here. For more information about Blume Haiti please visit www.blumehaiti.org