Drum Corps scholarships

[crown1993]

Wow.

I don't know if anybody read the END of my original post. I was hoping to make this a HELPFUL thread in trying to list scholarship/sponsorship programs that help kids who want to march corps. No judgments.

It wasn't my ignorance that needed excusing, it was my naivete.

[glory]

Ahh, the wonders of DCP and our brothers and sisters in drum corps.

HH

[84skyrydr]

So answer this question:

A young man living in Colorado marched Blue Knights last year. He wants to march Blue Devils next year but needs help with the additional expense of traveling to camps in California. Who's willing to write a check?

HH

And I drive an older car for the last few years but this year I want a BMW because it will be more reliable and a better overall fit to my liking. I can afford the insurance and the gas, but who will help me make the payments. I deserve it because I am a good driver and it will help me be even better in the long run. Any help out there??????

[Bob984]

Drum Corps Planet has a sponsorship board where individuals can post requests for sponsorships/assistance to march. What amazes me is we are sitting near January, and only 14 kids have posted thusfar. Perhaps members need to know about this a bit more, although I would assume we will see far more posts by mid-late Spring, when all cuts have been made and members have secured positions. Frankly, I won't sponsor anyone, even a vet, until I am sure that they are accepted into the corps for that year.

Last year I fully sponsored someone. I am sure that I will at least help this year. I don't think the corps can do much about what it costs....drum corps is expensive. I also believe that every kid can find a way to march and raise funds, but they may need assistance and guidance.....most corps will try to help a kid find the way.....however, I have heard of cases, unfortunately, that when some make a decision between 2 kids, and one has the money and one doesn't, that it has come into play, and I find that sad. Also, in this day and age, we have kids flying all over the place to march with their favorite corps. Here are a few examples. "Sally" plays mellophone and wants to go back for her 3rd year at Santa Clara. She lives in Texas, and is a college student. She flies to California for camps/rehearsal. Her parents make $90,000 a year, and she's a single child. "Joe" lives in Pittsburgh with his single mom in a small apartment, and has two siblings in Jr. High. She makes $18,000 a year. He's always dreamed about being in a major drum corps, and finally has tried out. Joe also works a day job in a warehouse, and has started community college classes at night. He has earned a spot at the Bluecoats, where he can ride with his friends in a van to rehearsal. Now, I appreciate what "Sally" has done and that she wants to march again (and I think she will find a way), but it is not hard to spot who really needs a shot, here.

So, if members who really need help post on the site, and those who can afford to help do, then all is good.

GB

[TerriTroop]

So answer this question:

A young man living in Colorado marched Blue Knights last year. He wants to march Blue Devils next year but needs help with the additional expense of traveling to camps in California. Who's willing to write a check?

HH

Maybe a BD alum who lives in Colorado. Maybe a BD alum who lives anywhere. Maybe someone with no ties to any corps at all. Yes, some might see it as a slight against the Blue Knights to fund this hypothetical person. Others might not see it as an issue. (You could have said Troopers, and my answer would be the same.)

[glory]

Maybe a BD alum who lives in Colorado. Maybe a BD alum who lives anywhere. Maybe someone with no ties to any corps at all. Yes, some might see it as a slight against the Blue Knights to fund this hypothetical person. Others might not see it as an issue. (You could have said Troopers, and my answer would be the same.)

But would you? Would you pay for him to march BD instead of BK?

I wouldn't where I would for him to stay at BK.

HH

[Lance]

We need to appoint a supreme overlord to decide where people can march since it's not favorable for some to let them decide for themselves.

I volunteer for the post. I will delegate.

Or we can just let people with unique circumstances figure out how to march where they want, and acknowledge that exactly nobody has to donate money to anybody they don't want to for whatever reason. If the marcher can't afford to go where they want, they'll be among the very first to know it.

[84skyrydr]

We need to appoint a supreme overlord to decide where people can march since it's not favorable for some to let them decide for themselves.

I volunteer for the post. I will delegate.

Or we can just let people with unique circumstances figure out how to march where they want, and acknowledge that exactly nobody has to donate money to anybody they don't want to for whatever reason. If the marcher can't afford to go where they want, they'll be among the very first to know it.

So do I get my BMW then?

[JimF-LowBari]

Can I get my dues paid?

Oh wait, my dues are getting my butt to practice and gigs so the corps gets paid in these tough economic times.

[Shadow_7]

Can I get my dues paid?

Oh wait, my dues are getting my butt to practice and gigs so the corps gets paid in these tough economic times.

I wish, but DCA requires evaluations and entrance fees. And the local corps is still a small startup that doesn't even own their own set of horns. Sure we could stay home and opt for DCA in 35 years. But it'd be nice to get a little something for my dues in my lifetime.

Not to mention that those gigs means parking downtown and paying $7 to do so for said gig. Per vehicle(member) per gig. Which for the paying gig might mean it would been cheaper to pool the $7 each from the membership than it would have been to do the gig.

-----

There was some sort of tigers group to raise funds for Texas talent to march non-texas corps. Not too long ago Revolution was the ONLY texas DCI corps. I'm not sure what happened to them, but they used to hold a pretty major fund raiser around Easter time in Houston. Sort of the Pre- Texas Drumcorps Preview option. It was a group of staff members from other corps who hailed from the Houston area, or something like that. Sort of a Cavaliers focus group though. Or so it appeared on the outside looking in.

I think that most of us are sort of missing the point. In a perfect world, we wouldn't need said scholarships, and organizations there of, because it wouldn't cost a small yacht to march for one season for one member. We used to have the funding necessary to give the kids an almost free ride. This is why I'm not as feel good about sponsoring as I used to be. Doing it doesn't solve anything. It's like giving a dollar to a homeless person so that he/she can eat. Only to have some thug rob him of it 30 seconds after you round the corner. You come back to give them another dollar only to discover some bloody mess of a person that might have been better off had you not given them anything. Such is the current state of our society.