Thousands of prisoners, nursing home patients and others cut off from freely roaming the world have been moved by the live concerts organized by Bread and Roses. 
Famous musicians including Bonnie Raitt, Huey Lewis and Tuck and Patti have been joined by hundreds of other skilled, local musicians, sound engineers, event producers and other volunteers to bring concerts to those leading more isolated lives than most of you who are reading this. If music moves you, then you may be motivated to jumpstart your own version of Bread and Roses in your community. What a way to create a circle of talented friends as you help make music for others, eh? As Maya Angelou wrote in Gather Together in My Name, “Music was my refuge. I could crawl into the space between the notes and curl my back to loneliness.”
Since Bread and Roses has established systems to leverage the value of their volunteers in hosting a packed schedule of concerts each month, you may not have to start from scratch. Get more ideas and systems from The ‘Rite of Spring’ Project and other music-to- community non-profits.
From this beloved non-profit’s executive director and my friend Cassandra Flipper and her talented producer and public relations director Marian Hubler, hear how these concerts have lit the lives of so many. 
Bread and Roses has a poignant back story, intensely loyal supporters and a lively collaboration with local high school students that brings the story to life for you here. After all, as Berthold Auerbach wrote, “Music washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life.”
As Taquisha, a performer in The ‘Rite of Spring’ Project, “a sixth grader … wrote (on the Carnegie Hall web site), ‘I think the music is awesome because the music is so strong. If that music is strong, I am going to be strong.'” Amen, Taquisha! Hear the podcast.
