The Pick Me Up Foundation Talbots

Talbots and The Pick Me Up Foundation invite you to an evening of shopping for modern classic Summer styles and refreshments.
**10% of pre-tax sales will be donated to The Pick Me Up Foundation**

Wednesday, June 15, 2016 5:00-8:00 PM at Talbots in the Columbia Mall.

Please RSVP & for more information, email Esther Reed estherreed15@gmail.com

Tonight we awarded the first Aaron Reed Music Scholarship Funds at Hammond High School.  $1,000 each.  The recipients had to send in an application and were chosen because they have been influenced by music and participated in music, creation, composing, recording, etc.  The recipients were Tyler Hess and Samuel Harley.

Hammond 2 Hammond 1

*Photos courtesy of “The Bear Press” via twitter 

2015 in review

Posted: December 30, 2015 in Uncategorized

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2015 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

A New York City subway train holds 1,200 people. This blog was viewed about 3,800 times in 2015. If it were a NYC subway train, it would take about 3 trips to carry that many people.

Click here to see the complete report.

Guitar

There were 5080 chances to win the Goo Goo Dolls signed guitar based off of donations to the “Ride for Music”. Congratulation to Glenn Burke. See the selection on the video below…

Photo Credit: The Umbrella Syndicate

Photo Credit: The Umbrella Syndicate

We want to thank everyone that attended out “Happy Hour” fundraiser on Thursday night at Nottingham’s. It was a very successful and fun event for all. We collected over $1,000 in donations and received a musical instrument donation that evening. Know we very much appreciate your donations and those donations will go a long way in helping refurbish instruments to get them in the hands of deserving recipients.

We would also like to give a few special thank you mentions to Sebastian, Ricky and Juliette for the excellent music, The Umbrella Syndicate for the photos, Nottingham’s for hosting the event and ScottE Software for promoting the event on our social media channels.

You can see more photos of the event on Facebook (Click the image below)

TPMUF Happy Hour Photos

Photos courtesy of The Umbrella Syndicate

Happy Hour Fundraiser

Posted: August 7, 2015 in Events
Tags: , ,

Pick Me Up Foundation Logo

“Happy Hour” Fundraiser to Support The Pick Me Up Foundation: August 20th 4 pm – ?? at Nottingham’s.

THE PICK ME UP FOUNDATION was set up to help bring the joy of music to kids who otherwise wouldn’t have the opportunity to play an instrument, take music lessons, or learn how to record music. Our the desire to see every child have the opportunity to experience the passion of music and follow their dreams.

Featuring Music by
Sebastian Berruz
Juliette Bell
Ricky Wise

Nottingham’s will donate 15% of your check to The Pick Me Up Foundation.

You MUST print and bring the flyer and present it to your server.

Screen Shot 2015-08-07 at 10.57.40 AM

Click to view larger version PRINT and bring with you

Click to view larger version
PRINT and bring with you

You can register for the event on Facebook here: https://www.facebook.com/events/1147472938602199/

Vans Warped Tour 2015

The Pick Me Up Foundation will be at the Van Warp tour this Saturday at Merriweather Post Pavilion in the Not Profit area. We look forward to seeing you all at the event.

SATURDAY, JULY 18, 2015

Columbia, MD

Merriweather Post Pavilion

Doors: 12:00PM
Merriweather Post Pavillion is located at 10575 Little Patuxent Parkway Columbia, MD 21044. Local transportation can be provided by the Washington Metro Area Transit Authority.

More details: http://vanswarpedtour.com/dates/washington-d-c-3

Ground Zero

Gene Burke owner of Ground Zero a small Veteran-owned business in Fredericksburg, VA pledged $500 to the Ride for Music.  He wrote a nice note to The PMU Foundation “Tell Brian to be safe riding. I am sure his son is looking over him.”  Thank you Gene!! And thank you Ken Guttman for spreading the word. http://www.gzenvironmental.com/

Learn more about the Ride For Music event including information about donations here: https://thepickmeupfoundation.com/bike-ride/

The Business Monthly

By Susan Kim, Staff Writer

MAY 4, 2015

Posted in: SALUTE TO HOWARD COUNTY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

A Columbia family is honoring the memory of their son and brother by introducing music to kids who don’t have the resources to purchase an instrument or take lessons.

In his short career, Aaron Reed was a founding member of two bands, The Runways (2006–2010) and New World Commotion (2010–2014). While spending time in Ireland, he also recorded a solo album.

A graduate of Hammond High School, Reed also found great joy in leading others to pick up a musical instrument.

Tragically, he died suddenly in February 2014 in Buffalo, N.Y., when he was 21. His family, still grieving the loss, has started a foundation through which they hope to carry forth his passion for getting people to play music.

The Pick Me Up Foundation, named for the last song he composed, has the mission of providing musical instruments, equipment and lessons to under-resourced kids.

His parents, who live in Kings Contrivance, along with his sister Julia, a University of Maryland student, have been collecting used musical instruments and, by working with nonprofit partners, giving them to kids who are entering the world of music.

The effort is even more poignant given that, after driving his son’s belongings back from Buffalo, Brian Reed parked his loaded van in his driveway overnight. Sometime during the night, someone broke into the vehicle and stole Aaron’s prized electric guitar — a Fender Stratocaster — along with his amp, and other equipment worth more than $10,000.

First, Hear the Music

Brian Reed said the foundation is about more than collecting instruments and funds; it’s about keeping his son’s love of music alive. Aaron Reed’s songs are posted on the foundation’s web site at www.thepickmeupfoundation.com.

“We decided to start the foundation because Aaron loved playing music and getting other people turned onto music, especially in his own age group,” said Reed. “When he was in high school, he bought his own recording equipment. He turned the downstairs into a recording studio. He loved recording the music of others, and it made him genuinely happy to see how excited they were when they heard their music on a CD. We just thought a good way to honor him would be to come up with a foundation that would help kids that don’t have access to musical instruments or lessons or things like that.”

Now, the foundation is raising money to repair and recondition the collected instruments. “We now have more than 250 instruments. On average, it costs $50 to recondition each instrument before it can be placed in a kid’s hand,” explained Reed. “That’s $12,500.”

To help raise that money, Reed — a professor and the chair of chemical, biochemical and environmental engineering at University of Maryland, Baltimore County — will be bike riding this July from Columbia, taking off from the restaurant Nottingham’s, to Buffalo, a journey of some 400 miles.

And that’s where the business community can participate, Reed said. “We are doing two things to raise money: We are asking people one-on-one, and we are also having a group challenge that people can take into their workplaces, their churches, neighborhoods and other groups.”

Adding a celebrity flair, the Goo Goo Dolls rock band donated a signed guitar that the foundation will raffle off to those who sponsor the ride. Reed is calling the trip “Ride for Music.”

Chamber Getting the Word Out

When Reed first started the instrument drive, he cast a wide net, he said. “I was figuring out ways to get the word out.”

He joined the Howard County Chamber of Commerce and began networking with businesses, and they, in turn, have begun informing other businesses about Pick Me Up’s mission.

“[The Chamber has] been very supportive,” said Reed. “They posted information on their web site about the instrument drive and will post details about the bike ride as well. The Chamber is one of the best ways of getting local companies involved on a more continual basis.”

Local Businesses Chipping In

Already, local businesspeople are helping to support the Pick Me Up Foundation. Reed is working with Jim Gross, owner of Kidz In Training, who also coaches track at Hammond High School, as his trainer for his long bike ride. Scott Ewart, who runs ScottE Software, is assisting Pick Me Up Foundation with web site design as well as Facebook and Twitter updates. When Reed is on the ride, Ewart will help locate him and send updates to his supporters via social media.

“We are not just about soliciting funds,” said Reed. “What really honors Aaron’s spirit of generosity is getting that instrument in a kid’s hand. That’s the outcome we want.”

Reed is definitely looking for corporate sponsors, but more than that, he’d like his son’s music to be heard. “I want to get Aaron’s music out there and have it make an impact. Just think if his music was listened to by thousands of people.”

– See original article at: http://www.bizmonthly.com/pick-me-up-foundation-carries-on-musician%E2%80%99s-generosity/#sthash.Uc2Ewgdc.dpuf

John Farmelo

The Pick Me Up Foundation is excited to announce that John Farmelo,  President and Chief Executive Officer at Bradford Energy Capital, LLC has generously offered to help the PMU Foundation organize the First Annual “Aaron’s Ride for Music”.  John Co-Chaired the extremely successful Western New York-based Ride For Roswell (http://rideforroswell.org/) for its first two years and brings many years of experience in organizing charity events.  John is a board member on Music is Art (http://musicisart.org/) and will also be a rider in the event.