GREENVILLE—The Foutz Foundation recently donated an alto
saxophone to a 5th grade Bradford student, Raylan Byers. Jessica Shaffer, a children’s
SSA from the Darke County Board of Developmental Disabilities heard of the foundation
from an event held in June when a park bench was donated by the foundation and a
guitar raffled off to raise funds and awareness of the organization. Jessica knew Raylan
Byers a 5th grader at Bradford was borrowing a saxophone from the school and needed
an instrument he could take home and call his own.
Per the foundation’s
website, “There are so many benefits for a child to learn an instrument. It gives them
confidence, teaches math skills, reading, writing, listening and more. Music is such a
powerful tool that is not only a creative outlet, but helps express feelings and say things
that are hard to express with words. We want to make sure that we can help as many
children come out of their shells and realize their potential.”
What makes this donation even more special is that it was presented by the family of
Karen Grote Bucklew who passed away in September. Jessica said, “Karen was a good
friend of Brian Foutz” (President and Founder of the Foutz Foundation) “they were in
band together. He wanted to donate a saxophone in her honor and then my request for
a saxophone for Raylan came through.” Karen played the saxophone at Greenville High
School and was a huge supporter of the music program. Courtney Bucklew, Karen’s
daughter made the presentation. Other family members attending were Wayne Grote,
Terri Grote, Douglas Grote, Courtney Bucklew, Cooper Bucklew, and Savannah Bucklew,
and Adam Bucklew. In addition, Raylan’s family which includes grandparents Chris &
Collette Yingst and siblings, Jamie Byers, Chaize Byers, and Rochelle Yingst all attended
the presentation.
The Foutz Foundation is a 501(c)3 charitable organization founded in 2017. The mission
of the foundation is to provide musical instruments for kids ages K through 12. They
accept used instruments, refurbishes them, and then matches instruments with those
who may need them at no charge. The Foundation has awarded over $5,000 in musical
instruments to date. If you love music and need assistance, know someone who does, or
just want to learn more about the Foundation or how you can help, please visit the
website at www.foutzfoundation.org .
