Acts of Kindness

Eight months have passed since we lost Justin and this period of time in our lives has been marked by some of the lowest lows we’ve ever experienced.  But there are bright moments that illuminate the “bleak and bland”  as Justin had referenced in one of his lyrics.  Some of those moments have come from reading comments on Justin’s Myspace page, www.myspace.com/theivorytonpianofactory, posted by “friends” from coast to coast and around the world.  Other bright moments have come when we recieved another “cover” of one of Justin’s songs that will be on the compilation CD to be released at the end of June.   We were thrilled to attend the recording of  Jeff Whalen’s instrumental arrangement of “Can’t Afford the Color” by the 20 piece Bensen-Scott Big Band at their rehearsal site in Mt. Kisco last month.   We’re told that arrangement will also be performed in concert by the Yorktown High School Jazz Band on May 12th and we can’t wait to attend that.  Hearing others perform Justin’s music makes us feel that his life’s work, cut so short, had special meaning and can be carried on by others and enjoyed by the masses in the years to come. Other bright moments have come from the never-ending words of encouragement we’ve recieved from friends and even outright strangers…and a steady flow of contributions to the Justin Veatch Fund which will help finance our mission.  We were honored by the Yorktown High School Student Senate when it decided to contribute half of the profits from the ever-popular “Mr. Yorktown Pageant” held on April 1st.   This resulted in a $1,000 donation to The Fund.  We were equally honored when several of Justin’s friends who play in the band “City of Molotov” joined with the youth group of  Temple Israel to perform in the “GefilteFest”.  $500 in proceeds from that event were donated to The Fund.  The generosity of many has allowed us to begin to function as a non-profit business to make money for a cause.  We have made two of Jusitin’s songs available through on-line retailers.  ”ESRT Page 14″ and “Whispering Spirits” are now available on iTunes and all major on-line music stores and have sales so far in 23 states, Canada, England and Japan.  We anticipate more significant sales when we release the compilation CD “PERMAGRIN (The Ivoryton Piano Factory and Friends’ musical tribute to Justin Veatch)” both in a traditional CD package as well as in download versions.  We have just now printed our first run of  T-shirts which are available through our website,  www.thejustinveatchfund.org, and will soon expand that line to tote bags, hats and other items.  The mission itself is still in its formative stages but our first official act of giving back comes on June 3rd when we will award the first Justin Veatch Fund scholarship at the Senior Awards Night at Yorktown High School.  It will be a proud moment for us.