Anonymous $100K donation made to support middle school music in Greater Victoria

An anonymous $100,000 donation was recently made to a fundraiser for middle school music programs within the Greater Victoria School District (SD61).

According to a media release from SD61, the unnamed donor was inspired by the actions taken by three students from Mount Douglas Secondary, Mudita Shikhare, Jeff Zhang and Zak Kyriacou. 

The students had launched a fundraiser to help support their Mount Douglas music program, as well as other middle schools’ programs. 

The budget for these programs was set to be cut, but now with the anonymous donor’s funds, middle school music will not suffer as badly as thought. 

“Thank you to the SD61 students who have been so engaged throughout the budget process, especially the students from Mount Douglas Secondary who have channeled their engagement into action,” said Sherri Bell, official trustee of SD61. 

“Their leadership has inspired our community and we are grateful for their efforts.”

Prior to the $100,000 donation, the three students had raised $31,050 in less than seven days. 

Bell added that, while this donation and fundraiser will provide significant relief to the at-risk music programs, work is still needed to ensure long-term funding.

“In order to create a sustainable model moving forward, there will need to be conversations about how we can support such a beneficial program while ensuring it doesn’t continue to be a topic regarding reductions during the budget process each year,” she said. 

The initial goal of the fundraiser was to garner $232,000, but with this anonymous donation, that target has changed to $132,000. 

As of this publication, the fundraiser has made $46,275 of that $132,000 goal. 

Visit their fundraiser page online, here.