News & Events
Gibson Foundation, INMED Promote Positive Youth Development Through Music
Expanded Partnership Launched at Bob Marley Week Celebration
Kingston, Jamaica, February 15, 2008—Surrounded by dozens of young musicians performing at the Bob Marley Creative Expressions Day concert, INMED Partnerships for Children (INMED) and the Gibson Foundation today announced the expansion of the Gibson IAMusic Program, which promotes self-esteem and offers alternatives to violence for at-risk youth through guitar instruction by positive adult role models.
With a classic image of reggae legend Bob Marley in the background, INMED President Dr. Linda Pfeiffer presents an Epiphone guitar—the kind Marley used—to the first-place winners of the Bob Marley Week Creative Expressions Day in Kingston, Jamaica.
The Gibson Foundation donated 150 acoustic and electric guitars and made a cash grant of $25,000 that will expand the successful IAMusic initiative developed by INMED to reach more than 700 youth in Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, Brazil, Peru and South Los Angeles County.
The Creative Expressions Day event marked the culmination of Bob Marley Week, an annual celebration of the late reggae legend’s life and music hosted by the Bob Marley Foundation, another partner in the IAMusic program. Complementing the Gibson Foundation’s donation of six guitars to the top-placing schools in the event’s musical competition, the Bob Marley Foundation also awarded music store gift certificates to the winning schools.
About the Gibson Foundation
The Gibson Foundation is the philanthropic division of musical giant Gibson Guitar Corporation. Founded in 2002, the Gibson Foundation is a 501(c)(3) organization committed to making the world a better place for children by creating, developing and supporting programs and other non-profit organizations in its efforts to advance education, music and the arts, the environment and health and welfare causes.
About INMED Partnerships for Children
INMED Partnerships for Children (www.inmed.org) is an international non-profit humanitarian development organization dedicated to strengthening the ability of families and communities to support the development of healthy, educated children who have increased opportunities for the future. Since 1986, INMED has built partnerships in more than 100 countries to carry out a wide range of health, nutrition, education, environmental and social development projects that create a continuum of care from the prenatal period through adulthood.
About the IAMusic Program
INMED and the Gibson Foundation officially launched the IAMusic program in Spring 2007, reaching nearly 400 youth in impoverished and violent communities since then.
The name of the program, “IAMusic,” reflects the fundamental concept of “I AM” that is missing for many youth in the disadvantaged communities the program serves. Growing up in impoverished, violent surroundings, these children see no opportunities, no hope, and suffer from low self-esteem as a result. But through their involvement in the IAMusic program, youth have the opportunity to gain a skill, build their character and self-esteem, learn alternatives to violence, and make a positive impact on the world around them. What begins with a child carries over to his family and community, creating real, meaningful change that crosses generations and breaks the cycle of poor outcomes.The IAMusic program complements and supports other crucial INMED programs, including gang intervention and mentoring for children of prisoners in South Los Angeles County, violence and obesity prevention in Jamaica, maternal and child health in Peru, and basic education and HIV/AIDS prevention in Brazil and Tobago.
Contact Info:
INMED Partnerships for Children
Mary-Lynne Lasco, Director of Development
281-465-4693, or contact@inmed.org