Alexandria Scott
alexandriascott.md@gmail.com
No need to bring tunes to keep pace at this 5k/10k fundraiser — live music will be provided throughout the course.
Participate in Kappa Kappa Psi’s Run For Music at Cal Poly’s campus on Jan. 27 and be marinated by an array of musical ensembles while raising money for music in the community.
As its debut charity run, the national honorary band fraternity wants the event to be unique and a high quality of work, fraternity president and biomedical engineering senior Stephanie Raymond said.
“It’s going to be fun to have music during the entire run, I’m really jazzed about it,” Raymond said. “A couple of us are into running and decided to try and make an event for people to get into. We are not only raising money for us but people in the community.”
While Kappa Kappa Psi helps support the marching band, wind ensemble and wind orchestra at Cal Poly, the members share a passion for spreading the joy of music throughout the community. The fraternity continually volunteers at elementary school and high school music programs.
San Luis County Unified School District music specialist teacher Katie Bravante said she began the school year at Pacheco Elementary School with 35 students who had no idea how to get an instrument out of its case, assemble it and make a sound. Kappa Kappa Psi joined the 45-minute sessions each week and worked with kids individually or in sections, Bravante said.
“The Kappa Kappa Psi members played an instrumental and valuable role,” Bravante said. “All of the students love band and continue to come by every week eager to learn. This is due in large part to the great beginning they had with the help of Kappa Kappi Psi.”
Kappa Kappa Psi bolsters its love of music and sharing it with each other and the communities around them.
The motivation to organize Run For Music is rooted in a set of fundraising goals but stems from wanting to do things outside of band because of the comradery between its members, Raymond said.
Benefits from the Run For Music are split between three separate causes: helping music programs at schools in San Luis Obispo, raising funds for the Cal Poly band trip to Europe and for service projects within Kappa Kappa Psi. Orchestrating the funds to different entities is also a strategy to get more people involved graduate student and fundraising chair Jeffrey Brown said.
“We wanted to target a different audience with each cause,” Brown said. “A lot of people don’t realize how music enhances your personal development as a child and even into college. People don’t always recognize what an important cause music is.”
Besides the live ensembles, Run For Music will feature a half mile kids fun run in the University Union area, booths featuring sponsors and an “instrument petting zoo” where anyone can come toot around and make some kind of sound with various instruments, Raymond said.
“We all come from different backgrounds and the thing that connects us is music,” Raymond said.