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Health & Fitness

Local Community Music Organization Needs Your Help

Listen Live Music, a nonprofit fledgling, faces a potential 25 percent rental increase for providing a community service.

Dear fellow residents, board members, volunteers and live music supporters,

I am writing you to appeal for your voice, your two cents and your sense of righteousness. In an unfolding story over the last couple of days we have come to learn that Upper Milford is in a serious budget crisis. There are many ideas on the table, and a couple of those adversely affect . 

Apparently one member of the community is bothered by the fact that the rents the facility and has suggested that they stop renting it out and therefore save in heat/air and janitorial costs. The township manager, Dan Delong, believes that the cessation of rentals will not happen, but feels fairly certain a rental increase in the amount of 25 percent more than we are paying currently will.

Being a nonprofit, we just cannot afford an increase like this. This increase will translate to an amount in excess of $550 annually.
. in the township building and neither Ami Lanning (co-founder and vice president) nor I can make it because we will be at the NERFA music conference (out of our own pockets). My ask of you is to please, if you can make it, come out to the meeting at the township where they will discuss this and let them know that we exist for and by the community and that Listen Live Music means something. That Listen Live Music is appreciative of our home in Upper Milford, and that we also believe that we bring value to the community. 

If you are unable to make it, please send an email to the Board of Supervisors at info@uppermilford.net and cc it to ddelong@uppermilford.net. Explain to them, in this email, about the awesome talent we have in the area that deserves to be heard from this stage. About the appreciating community that comes out to see all this great music. Let them know how great it is to come and see a national act concert at an affordable price in such an intimate space in our own backyard. Tell them how you feel safe and secure bringing your children here to volunteer, perform or spectate in a smoke- and alcohol-free atmosphere. Tell them the growth we have seen in performers over the two years that they have been coming out and playing the open mics.

If there have been times over the past two years that you have enjoyed a performance, or a whole night of performances, or enjoyed playing on the LLM stage and the networking with the other performers, or come out for a concert, or opened the show for a national act - Please, I am asking you if you could take a few minutes now to send an email.

Thank you all for the time you have taken to read this. Please consider taking a few more minutes to help your community music organization.

Best,
Val

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Val Minett is the Chair of Listen Live Music, Inc., www.listenlivemusic.org. Val can be reached by email at info@listenlivemusic.org.

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