Rockstar Foundation Competitors

FIRE’s mission is to defend and sustain the individual rights of all Americans to free speech and free thought—the most essential qualities of liberty. FIRE educates Americans about the importance of these inalienable rights, promotes a culture of respect for these rights, and provides the means to preserve them. FIRE recognizes that colleges and universities play a vital role in preserving free thought within a free society. To this end, we place a special emphasis on defending the individual rights of students and faculty members on our nation’s campuses, including freedom of speech, freedom of association, due process, legal equality, religious liberty, and sanctity of conscience.

Nobody can underestimate the power of music. It can help turn a bad day around in second and, most importantly, make someone smile – even if you are a patient at a hospital. Musicians on Call focuses on bringing joy to hospital patients by providing the healing power of music. With the help of volunteered musicians, we are creating memories that will be remembered for a lifetime. From fast and upbeat songs to slow songs with beautiful melodies, Musicians on Call will bring happiness to patients and their families one song at a time. We use music to promote and complement the healing process for patients, families, and caregivers. This simple process can bring about miraculous changes for patients. We’ve seen veterans move their injured limbs to the music—and children smile for the first time since they’ve been in the hospital to receive treatment for cancer. These one-on-one interactions between musician and patient have the powerful effect of restoring the happiness that often fades away in healthcare facilities. Since 1999, Musicians On Call volunteer musicians have performed for over half a million patients and their families in over 20 cities including New York, Miami, Nashville, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Washington, D.C., Baltimore, Phoenix, and Dallas.

Guitars Over Guns’ unique curriculum emphasizes social-emotional learning and outcomes through music and arts instruction. After each session, mentors assess students’ academic performance, school and program attendance, artistic progress and peer interactions. We use social-emotional learning measurements to evaluate key competencies such as empathy, teamwork, initiative, responsibility and problem solving. Recent evaluations indicate that over 90 percent of Guitars Over Guns students improved their academic performance, overall conduct and decision-making skills. These measurements are byproducts of a greater shift that is occurring in the way these young people think about the world and their place in it. Our Story: Established in Miami in 2008, the organization now operates in Miami, Chicago, LA, and New York. Since then, we've positively impacted over 9,700 students. Guitars Over Guns began as an informal music mentoring project led by Dr. Chad Bernstein, serving youth from under-resourced neighborhoods in Miami. Upon observing the students’ achievements both on stage and in the classroom, Chad formalized the program and partnered with local schools to impact even more youth. In collaboration with Communities in Schools of Miami, the first official Guitars Over Guns program began at North Miami Middle School in 2008. Over the past twelve years, the program has grown to offer no-cost music instruction, mentorship and academic support at 36 school and community sites in Miami and Chicago. Additionally, Guitars Over Guns now offers a more extensive curriculum that includes dance, visual arts and annual summer camps. With the support of our mentors, staff, community partners, board of directors and passionate advocates around the world, Guitars Over Guns is ready to inspire and empower students everywhere to #ChooseYourSound