Donate Instrument For Complimentary Tickets to Seabreeze Jazz Festival

Band and music education are an important part of our area’s middle and high school curriculums. But unfortunately, with reduced state budgets and cuts in county music program spending, funds for new band instrument purchases in most local schools are a challenge. This has prompted more pressure on parents to foot the bill in purchasing or renting a musical instrument for their child to participate in band.

LINKS (Lonely Instruments for Needy Kids) of Northwest Florida is a not-for-profit organization that collects used band instruments, pays for repairs, and then provides access to these instruments to needy kids in Okaloosa, Walton, and Santa Rosa counties.

• LINKS connects needy students to good used instruments
• LINKS provides the opportunity for students to participate in local programs in local middle and high school
• LINKS pays for repairs, and the instrument stays in Northwest Florida
• LINKS facilitates with local school administrators to determine needs and to provide options for families who need it
• LINKS is a tax-deductible donation

Donated instruments should be dropped off at Playground Music Center in Ft. Walton Beach at Uptown Station through April 17th.

Acceptable types of musical instruments for the LINKS donation include:
Flute, piccolo, clarinet, oboe, English horn, bassoon, alto sax, tenor sax, baritone sax, bass clarinet, contrabass clarinet, cornet, trumpet, flugelhorn, double french horn, trombone, baritone, euphonium, tuba, and sousaphone.

Acceptable brands of musical instruments include:
Artley, Armstrong, Azumi, Bach, Benge, Bundy, Besson, Buffet, Buescher, Blessing, Cannonball, Carnegie, Conn, Courtois, Eastman, Emerson, Edwards, Fox, Gemeinhardt, Getzen, Holton, Haynes, Jupiter, Kanstul, King, Keilworth, Leblanc, Linton, Martin, Meinl Weston, Muramatsu, Noblet, Normandy, Powell, Pearl, Schreiber, Selmer, Sankyo, Schilke, Vito, Wilson, Yamaha, Yanagisawa.

Playground Music Center will have the right to accept or reject any instrument that does not meet LINKS instrument guidelines. For each acceptable instrument to the LINKS program, Seabreeze Jazz Festival will donate a complimentary Four Day Pass ($200 value) good for jazz performances April 18-21 at Pier Park in Panama City Beach, FL.

For information on LINKS instrument donations, contact Playground Music Center in Ft. Walton Beach at 850-243-2514.