On November 6, 2018, we were thrilled to hold the first presentation of musical instruments collected through The Three Rs Music Program with students at Central Senior Public School in Lindsay, Ontario. Our first donation event was a special one for the students, who were surprised by Jeremy Drury of The Strumbellas. Drury had donated a drum set of his to The Three Rs Music Program during our Lindsay instrument drive a few weeks prior.

After picking up the drums and a few other instruments at Van Halteren Music Centre, one of the local repair shops refurbishing instruments collected during our inaugural drive in Lindsay, Jeremy and the Music Canada Cares crew waited patiently outside of the school for a break in hall traffic as students went from class to class. They made their way to a boiler room beside the music class, before music teacher Holly Smith announced the surprise to her students.

Watch Jeremy surprise students with his drum set donation below.

“When I heard that Music Canada Cares was doing the drive for instruments, I looked in my basement and I saw all of the drums I have collected over the years, which is a lot, and my girlfriend would tell you that they need to go,” said Jeremy. “So this kit, I used for rehearsals, practicing on my own, and then when we were working on rehearsals for the new Strumbellas record, this is the drum kit that I used. And I am so very happy to donate it to you guys today and I hope you guys get good use out of it.”

Following Jeremy’s remarks, Sarah Hashem, Managing Director for The Three Rs Music Program, thanked Jeremy for his generosity and encouraged students to find ways to impact others’ lives with acts of kindness like Jeremy had done for them.

Jeremy then took questions from students about his favourite touring memories, making music his full time job, and what led to him pursuing a career in music. He then set up the students’ new kit and played a quick percussion set. He signed autographs and took one on one questions from students, including requests for Jeremy to follow them on Instagram.

A few other key members of the team behind the Lindsay instrument drive were on hand to witness the presentation, including Beth Wilson, Music Consultant for the Trillium Lakelands District School Board, and Rob Barg from the Coalition for Music Education.

The Three Rs Music Program aims to improve equitable access to music education by increasing the inventory of instruments in Ontario’s publicly funded schools. We also strive to connect students to Canadian artists and Canada’s dynamic music industry to inspire career opportunities and enrich their classroom experience.

We were thrilled and inspired to see the students’ reaction to our first surprise donation and look forward to many more to come!

Check out a few photos from the donation event below.