Harmonikids Hohner-sponsored Session For Big Brothers Big Sisters Of Kamloops, British Columbia

On March 15, 2015 I provided a Hohner sponsored Harmonikids session to Big Brothers Big Sisters in Kamloops, BC. In the session 20 participants were entertained then gifted harmonicas and taught to play four songs. It was a rousing success and the kids were very enthusiastic and proud of their newly discovered musical ability.

San Anto native and accordionist Flaco Jiménez will receive the Grammy Lifetime Achievement award this Saturday in a ceremony the day before the 57th Grammy Awards. Alongside the Bee Gees, Wayne Shorter, Buddy Guy, George Harrison, Pierre Boulez and The Louvin Brothers, Jiménez will grab the honor for his contributions to conjunto and rock 'n' roll.

Dear Hohner friends,

Happy 2015! Please take a moment to review the truly remarkable and diverse outreach Harmonikids achieved in the past year with your assistance.

Gary Allegretto's Hohner-Sponsored Harmonikids Session for Economically Challenged Children with Respiratory Issues

Playing the harmonica has been widely recognized in the medical field as beneficial to those who suffer from respiratory ailments. On October 8th my Hohner-sponsored Harmonikids session for 80 economically-challenged children with respiratory issues at the Mortgridge Academy in Denver proved just that. Mortgridge Academy is part of National Jewish Health - the leading respiratory hospital in the nation.

In a Hohner sponsored session on August 1, 2014 I returned to Snowden and Moulds Cottages at the Ferris detention facility in Wilmington Delaware; a full-security juvenile facility for boys whose mission is to “provide educational and therapeutic services to adjudicated youth in a safe, staff-secure and gender sensitive environment preparing them for successful re-entry into the community.” Over the years Harmonikids' ongoing programs to assist the youth at Ferris have become among my personal favorites because the participants (many of whom have been neglected, abandoned, and/or abused in their young lives) receive much-needed self esteem and confidence from the experience. The proven therapeutic benefits Harmonikids provides to troubled teens there are described by Treatment Specialist Supervisor Lester Whidbee in his report on the right.