Welcome to GnG Canada 
Guitars not Guns Canada has been presented an Award.
"On behalf of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, I would like to extend my warmest congratulations to Guitars Not Guns Canada on the occasion of its Graduation Ceremony on June 14th at Warden Public School. This program has grown over the years from very humble beginnings to becoming a highly accomplished music program serving the interests of at risk youth and the community by providing youth with guitars and lessons to engage their creativity with the goal of preventing violence in the schools and in the streets. Congratulations! Lorenzo Berardinetti Member of Provincial Parliment Scarborough Southwest June 14, 2007"
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To the family and friends of Jordan Manners
The directors, officers and volunteers of Guitars Not Guns wish to express our sincere condolences to the family and friends of Jordan Manners. Our thoughts and prayers are with his mother Laureen Small, and her family, as well as Jordan’s many friends, and all the students and staff at C. W. Jefferys Collegiate Institute.
We applaud the courage and strength of his mother and family in looking beyond their personal grief and taking a stand against youth violence in general. We believe that no child should feel afraid at school or home, on the bus or anywhere else in the community. The tragic reality of youth violence in North America must be addressed by investing in our youth who may otherwise be swayed towards violence, drugs, gangs or not finishing school.
There are no words or actions that can ever heal your pain or bring Jordan home. It is our sincere hope, however that the tragedy of his senseless death can be a catalyst to motivate our community to action so that no other children die as he did.
We pray that in this, you will find peace.
Sincerely,
Eric Lea, President
Guitars Not Guns Canada
416-726-0759
Hi Everyone - click on a link to a map about the school we started our first course in...http://www.tdsb.on.ca/scripts/Schoolasp.asp?schno=4756
Eric Lea
April 2, 2007
Press Release
Guitars Not Guns Music Program
Guitars Not Guns Canada announces its first Canadian Class is to start on April 12 2007 at Warden Ave. Public School. The volunteer program is spearheaded by Trustee Gary Crawford of the Toronto District School Board and Toronto Councillor Brian Ashton.
Since 2000, Guitars Not Guns has provided guitars and lessons to at-risk children age 8 to 18 throughout various US States. The kids are taught in groups of 10 with 3 adult teachers for each group class. Kids who don’t already have guitars will be assigned a guitar. Provided the child continues for the full 8 week program, they will be allowed to keep their guitars.
Many recent studies have provided evidence that Music helps improve academic achievement social skills. Guitars Not Guns Canada President Eric Lea said “Music can empower the dreams and ambitions of kids who are in foster care or at-risk to involvement in gangs, violence and drugs.”
Guitars Not Guns goal is to Help stop violence in schools and on the streets by providing a music program for at risk teens. We want to divert children from the self-destructive behaviours of drugs, alcohol and crime. By providing children and teens with guitars and lessons, we hope to engage their creative potential and empower their dreams.
Trustee Gary Crawford has been a proponent of Music Education for at risk youth for many years. “Music can be a powerful vehicle for positively influencing at-risk, alienated and marginalized kids and youth” he said.
Web Link –Canada
Web Site – http://www.guitarsnotguns.org
Links about Guitars Not Guns
The Gibson Foundation
John Kelly - Chords of Hope in Grief Over Son's Death - washingtonpost.com
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/07/AR2007030702255.html
"Music can heal. It can do more than ease the pain. It can throw a lifeline to kids who can't be reached in any other way." (Paul McCartney)
Board of Directors and Advisors
Executive Board
Eric Lea, Pickering Ontario
President
Eric is a 20 year veteran of the life insurance business. In his spare time he engages his passion for music writing songs that relate the stories of children in need. He has performed at numerous fundraisers and conferences for foster and special needs children.
In 2006 Eric was approached by Guitars Not Guns founder Ray Nelson to bring the GNG music program to the children of Canada. Inspired by this opportunity to give the gift of music to kids in need, he has eagerly taken on the challenge.
Eric is a graduate of Humber College, a Certified Financial Planner and is licensed with the Financial Services Commission of Ontario and Ontario Securities Commission.
Michelle Diaz, Toronto Ontario
Secretary Treasurer
Michelle is a graduate of Concordia University in Montreal. It was during this time that she became active in protesting human right violations. After earning her B.A. she returned to Toronto where she continues her support for Amnesty International and volunteering in Toronto’s Homeless Shelters.
When she is not working or traveling Michelle can be spotted in antique shops, reading espionage novels, relaxing to the sounds of Billy Holiday or listening to the wise words of Joan Crawford.
Michelle has worked for several years in the Estate Planning field assisting in Marketing and Operations.
Michelle is responsible for financial control and operations within GnG Canada.
Board of Directors and Advisors
Advisory Board
Antonio Arch, Toronto Ontario
Antonio is a Publicist and a member of the Public Relations Professional Association of Toronto.
Gary Crawford, Toronto Ontario
Gary has been Trustee of the Toronto District School Board since 2004. He is passionate about education, about helping kids and about the use of music to reach kids who are at risk. He has been an active and committed member of the community. His work as a school trustee and as a volunteer with the Cliffcrest Community Centre and the Scarborough Arts Council reflect a few of the activities he has been involved in.
C.C. (Christopher) Godawa
Based in Montreal, editor-translator C.C. Godawa teaches at McGill University and Université du Québec à Montréal. When not imbuing students with a passion for the written word, he can be found hunting down antique accordions, combing through bookshops or attending colleagues' film premieres and vernissages
Ray Nelson, Peachtree City Ga., USA
Ray is the founder and president of Guitars Not Guns in the United States. The idea for GnG started when Ray and Louise Nelson became foster parents. It was through this experience with their foster kids in 1992 that Ray decided to help by providing guitars and lessons to foster kids. He began asking friends to donate their unused guitars to foster kids and other deserving children.
Guitars Not Guns includes 7 active State Affiliates in the US and now Canada.
Some Interesting Facts about Music and Kids
Music Education Helps “At-Risk” Kids in school
A recent study by Dr. Frances H. Rauscher of the University of Wisconsin found that “at-risk” children scored better on spatial and temporal reasoning skills when they received training in rhythm, piano and singing.
Music Education Improves IQ
A study by Dr. E. Glenn Schellenberg of the University of Toronto showed that children receiving voice or piano lessons showed significant improvements in IQ compared with children who did not receive music instructions.
Music Improves Self Esteem
According to O.F. Lillemyr of the Norwegien Research Council for Science and the Humanities there is a very high correlation between positive self-perception, high cognitive competence score, healthy self-esteem, total interest and school involvement, and the study of music.
Music Influences Kids to Stay in School
Courses in Music positively influenced the decisions of high school students not to drop out of school according to the Centre of Music Research, Florida State University, 1990 .
Music helps Non-traditional Learners
Dr. Lassar Golkin found that children who were unable to learn concepts in a verbal school setting were able to learn the same concepts through these same kinds of (singing) street play and games. He developed the Interdependent Learning Model (ILM) that brings music games into schools for the purpose of teaching academic skills and content according to the California State University, Fullerton.
Why Guitars
The guitar is the most popular instrument in the world, therefore a natural attraction to kids and teens. The can watch their favourite artists performing and fuel their dreams to be like them.
Guitars are portable so a child can easily find a quite place to play on their own. Alternatively, kids can get together to play.
They are also relatively inexpensive. In fact many people have old guitars collecting dust that they are willing to donate to a cause such as this one.
“Being a musician all these years and knowing what a guitar meant to me as a kid, I started asking a lot of my musician friends for their old guitars that were sitting in the corner collecting dust,”says Ray Nelson about his inspiration to start the Guitars Not Guns Music Program , a youth mentoring program that puts musical instruments into the hands of children in foster care.
Supported by the Gibson Foundation and based near Atlanta, this grassroots organization is the brainchild of Nelson and his wife Louise, who use the power of music to help children between the ages of 8 to18. The group’s goal is to give disadvantaged and at-risk children a creative outlet with which to express themselves. No child who wants to participate in the program is turned away for lack of funds.
To date, Guitars Not Guns has provided free guitars and lessons to more than 300 children. Through the recent generosity of the Gibson Foundation and Gibson Baldwin Music Education (GBME)—the member of the Gibson Family of Brands dedicated to providing high-quality, entry-level instruments—Guitars Not Guns is now able to reach out to more kids in need.
Impressed by the dedication and commitment of the all-volunteer group, Gibson signed on to a three-year commitment this spring to support the group. In its initial contribution, Gibson provided Epiphone and GBME guitars to organizational chapters in four states—California, Virginia, New Mexico, and Georgia. As new chapters continue to open across the country, the demand for instruments and volunteers is increasing.
“Being a musician all these years and knowing what a guitar meant to me as a kid, I started asking a lot of my musician friends for their old guitars that were sitting in the corner collecting dust.” |
The idea for the Guitars Not Guns program began over a decade ago after Ray and Louise decided to become foster parents. Their children had grown and moved out of the house and the Nelsons were experiencing the effects of an empty nest. Nelson, a professional musician, had recently retired from a 30-year road career playing throughout the Midwest and California.
Nelson recalls that time, “My wife approached me about getting a foster child. She was still working and I was just lazing around the house.” The couple soon opened their home—and hearts—to the idea that ultimately changed many lives.
“We started out with one child and then it became another child and before I knew it, we had four teenagers—two boys and two girls,” says Nelson. The couple went “from a quiet house to teenagers running and yelling in the halls, PTA, and two dozen eggs for breakfast every morning,” Nelson laughs.
Through foster parenting classes and training, the Nelsons learned about the plight of foster children—especially the teens. The Nelsons learned that these children lead a nomadic life, sometimes living in four to six homes during their teen years. “Sometimes all they would have would be one bag of clothes—no one wants teenagers, you see,” says Nelson.
It didn’t take long for Nelson to realize these kids needed something to focus on, something to occupy their time in a productive way and hopefully instil some self-confidence in these kids. Nelson wanted to give them something to focus on to help them with their troubled and often tragic young lives. “It was either music or sports to occupy them,” says Nelson.
He continues, “I started collecting guitars and passing them along to foster kids. Then it went beyond that. People found out what I was doing and I started getting requests for guitars for poor and needy kids, and kids who had been sick. It kind of got me hooked. We always got the guitars we needed.”
Nelson’s program operated strictly on donations and the kindness of strangers for the better part of the ’90s. In 2002, Guitars Not Guns was granted non-profit organization status. Volunteers from all walks of life continue to donate their time and talents to ensure the organization’s continued success. Attorneys, law enforcement officials, and professional musicians have all volunteered to give guitar lessons to the program’s participants.
“I started collecting guitars and passing them along to foster kids. Then it went beyond that. People found out what I was doing and I started getting requests for guitars for poor and needy kids, and kids who had been sick. It kind of got me hooked.”
Over the years, Nelson has witnessed first-hand the impact his program has had over young lives. “The changes are like day and night. The music gives the kids something to focus on, and when they start focusing, they do better in school."
Recalling one such success story Nelson says, “We had one boy named Daniel who didn’t really like himself, but he started taking lessons. He took to it like a duck to water and got a lot of one-on-one time. He ended up starting a teen band and it turned him around.” Another success story is that of a shy, 10-year-old boy who entered a talent contest at his elementary school about six months after he started taking lessons and took home first place. “I’m sure some of these kids will go on to make a name for themselves as guitarists.”
For more information about the Gibson Foundation go here.
For more information about the Gibson/Baldwin Music Education (GBME) go here.
For more information on how you can start a local chapter of Guitars Not Guns go here.
