Chestermere High School’s (CHS) band received a donation of $3000 from Scotiabank, matching funds raised by the band through a bottle drive.
The donation comes after staff, mostly parents volunteered with the bottle drive so that the band would be eligible for the matching funds as part of one of Scotiabank’s programs to give back to the community.
“They drove around with kids and collected bottles,” said Scotibank Manager Greg Moffatt.
CHS Music Director Lael Johnston said that the band has grown a lot in recent years.
“We’re currently over 108 members,” he said.
Donations and support like this are a key part in allowing the school to continue offering range of opportunities to the band.
Johnston said that he will be splitting the money raised by the bottle drive and the donation to support several different aspects of the band program.
“I’m planning on spreading it around a bit,” he said.
“We’ll use a portion of it to subsidize guest conductors and clinicians,” said Johnston.
It will also be used to cover the cost of travel and busing the band to and from the many community events that they perform at.
“Busing is expensive, busing 108 kids of course is even more expensive,” said Johnston.
Support from the community is important to the success of the program and shows the band they are valued in the community.
“It makes you feel appreciated,” said Johnston.
