The 2014 Music Enrichment Program was a smashing success!

Thank you to the John & Marcia Goldman Foundation, all of the donors, contributors and 2014 DIO Fest attendees for helping to bring this program to life. Together with Camp Krem, DIO Fest raised nearly $5000. The Goldman Foundation and DIO Fest helped to bring music to the lives of about 500 special needs campers during the summer of 2014.

Throughout the summer, music enrichment and music therapy sessions were held by Certified Music Therapist Jesse Gobeli and facilitated by resident Camp Krem Music Director, Derick Serpa.

Campers and parents alike were delighted to have such a wonderful music therapist at camp to not only provide musical experiences to campers, but also to train regular staff members to be able to implement music enrichment programs year-round.

We couldn’t have done it without your gracious support!

We hope to see you next year, but in the meantime stay updated by checking out our News blog, especially the stories from our year-round respite trips. The connection between the musical community of DIO Fest and the special needs support community of Camp Krem grows stronger every year, and we all deserve to be proud of that!

To sum it all up, here is a note from Program Director Christina Krem, giving some insight into the wonderful first summer of Music Enrichment at Camp Krem!

A Note From Program Director Christina Krem:

“What a beautiful experience our Summer 2014 Music Enrichment Program was for campers and staff alike! I am so pleased that from now on we can offer our campers a music program, thanks to the kind and generous help from our donors and from our staff who helped make it possible. I thank you from the bottom of my heart! I saw the benefits of the music program daily and it was incredible seeing campers come out of their shell, try new things and grow in self-confidence. One of the highlights for me was observing one of our campers, Caroline, at music group. In the years that we had known Caroline at camp, none of us had ever heard her speak or make a noise. She is typically very shy. That day in music group, they were working on making a song with a loop pedal: they passed the microphone around one by one and each made a different sound, building upon the song. When it was Caroline’s turn, she hesitated at first then let out this great big, loud noise, then laughed. Seeing her let loose like that was really wonderful and we were floored! Another highlight was during a session in which they were exploring feelings through music. Jessie, the Music Therapist, asked each camper to pick an instrument then one at a time play something that represented the way they were feeling that day. One of the girls, Megan, played a slow and somewhat melancholy beat.The other campers guessed that she was feeling sad, which led Jessie to facilitate a discussion about ways to deal with sadness. The other campers in the group all went around and gave Megan suggestions about what they do to cheer themselves up when they are feeling down. After a few minutes, Megan seemed uplifted and was cheerful for the rest of the music session, selecting songs for the group to sing, and for the rest of the day. The power of music and friendship! The addition of Music Enrichment to our program gives our campers a way to be creative, to let loose and be silly, a chance to relax, improve social skills and communication (verbal and non-verbal). It is truly priceless. Thank you again to everybody who made this possible.”

– Christina Krem 9/10/14

A Note From DIO Fest Co-Founder & Camp Krem Marketing & Web Advisor Stevee Stubblefield:

We look forward to another year of fun at DIO Fest and success at Camp Krem. Thank you all from the bottom of our hearts for your involvement in this meaningful program. It makes me so happy when I think of all of the positivity that was created this year. Between the second annual DIO Fest and the first year of music enrichment at Camp Krem, 2014 is a year I will never forget.

It is when people come together and do something worthwhile that great things happen. We’ve done it this year, and I look forward to seeing you again soon.

Oh, and don’t forget to check all the photos and videos of smiling campers from the program being posted to the Camp Krem blog!

– Stevee Stubblefield