A Campaign for Pride
Eastern Senior High School’s Blue and White Marching Machine
Extending our support to the 2019 Keller Award-winning “Pride of Capitol Hill” Blue and White Marching Machine, the Foundation organized a campaign to raise additional funds for the band.
To continue repairing instruments and provide an additional $90,000 to replace the band’s 10-year-old uniforms, the Foundation created an online community campaign to raise additional funds and solicit donations of instruments. The National Capital Bank helped spur contributions by matching the first $10,000 donated to the campaign.
“The Foundation has long appreciated the band’s remarkable contributions to education and school spirit,” said Wayne Warren, a member of the Foundation’s board of directors and its Keller Grant committee. “But we only recently learned that the dire condition of many band instruments — some of them up to 20 years old — was limiting student participation. The Keller Grant will go far in upgrading the band’s instruments, and we’re rallying the community to pitch in for additional instruments and new uniforms as well.”
In a testament to the band’s impact, more than 90 percent of its graduating members go on to college, and all who have applied to be in a college band have earned a scholarship — even if they didn’t major in music. “The Eastern High School name carries value,” says Assistant Director Steven Smith. “We use our connections with HBCU band directors, and they know they’re getting a quality musician.”
Photos of Eastern Senior High School Marching Band Courtesy of Andrew Lightman - @HillRagDC
