The noise coming from the beginning band rehearsal on the stage at Prescott Memorial School in Washington might not be everyone’s cup of tea but to band instructor Megan Rogers, it’s a wonderful sound, made even sweeter by a recent donation of instruments by Maine Public Radio. 

This year, Maine Public Radio donated a full drum kit, three trombones, and a like new trumpet to the 5th and 6th grade beginner band program of RSU40, which serves the towns of Waldoboro, Friendship, Warren, Washington, and Union.

 “I’m always on the lookout for instruments for my three schools,” Rogers said, in a news release, about the three local schools she teaches in Washington, Friendship, and Union.  

In areas where resources are scarce the cost of instruments is sometimes prohibitive. 

“A lot of my students tell me that they can’t join band because it would be too expensive to rent an instrument,” she said. “Some of them don’t even ask their parents because they know a monthly payment would be untenable for their families.” 

While Rogers has been able to solicit donations from her friends and family, she had a hard time this year when five students needed trombones.

“A friend sent me a link to the Music That Move ME page and I heard back immediately with the confirmation that all the instruments I needed were waiting for me in Lewiston. It was like Christmas!”

The Maine Public: Music That Moves ME Instrument Donation Program collects gently used or new instruments throughout the month of June.

To date the station has collected nearly 1,000 instruments from attics and basements all over the state.  The donation program runs alongside stories airing each week of music and songs that have been influential to the stations listener’s lives.