Dear LLI members,
We are forwarding a request from Janet Stetson, Director of Graduate Admissions at Bard, to help with funding for a student who has been admitted to the Conservatory. Her message is below.
Thank you.
Dear friends,
I can’t think of a time I did outreach in support of a Bard student or initiative, and I am only comfortable doing so now because the need is real and reasonable, and the window of opportunity is very small.
Tammam Odeh is a very talented 22-year-old harpist and a Syrian refugee from Damascus. He has been awarded a full tuition scholarship to attend Bard College’s two-year graduate certificate Advanced Performance Program. The program’s harp instructor has pledged all lessons for free. A Rhinebeck resident has offered him a room in her house at no cost. Though many people are working so Tammam can accept Bard’s offer and begin Sept. 3, there is still a $3500.00 shortage of funds to cover his meals, plane ticket, and incidentals.
I write to you as a fellow community member, not as a Bard administrator, to solicit support from friends I believe may be interested in helping this Syrian musician by making a contribution. If you are so inclined, please send a check made out to Bard Conservatory, with Syrian Refugee Fund on the note line, and mail to:
Bard College Conservatory of Music, 30 Campus Road, Annandale-On-Hudson, NY 12504-5000.
Easier still, you may contribute online by going to Bard’s Conservatory website at http://www.bard.edu/conservatory/giving/ and clicking on the Give Now button. Please direct your gift towards the Conservatory Scholarship Fund and make a note in the “Message to the Development Office” box that your donation should go towards the Syrian Refugee Fund (Tammam is their only Syrian refugee). This will, in turn, make your gift tax deductible and you will receive a letter of receipt confirming this. I give you my word that the program’s director and I will make certain Tammam himself receives each dollar donated to him for meals, plane ticket, and incidentals, I will personally keep all donors apprised of Tammam’s performances.
Thank you for considering,
Janet
