Iconic Northern Colorado venue seeks to encourage employee giving and support local music scene
BELLVUE, Colo., August 15, 2017
Owners and staff of the Mishawaka Amphitheatre announced a new philanthropic program today, designed as a charitable arm of the Northern Colorado venue and restaurant.
The Mish Initiative will invest thousands of dollars into the local music scene annually, provide cash and in-kind sponsorship for organizations, and reinforce Mish employees’ individual volunteer and philanthropic efforts.
“We want to cultivate a community of dreamers,” said Dani Grant, Mishawaka Amphitheatre owner and general manager, “and the Mish Initiative makes it easy to foster creative thinking and encourage giving.” Grant, who founded the now-dormant music nonprofit SpokesBUZZ, designed the Mish Initiative program to be simple, straightforward, and flexible — in part as a response to more traditional philanthropic efforts that require “too much paper and too many rules.”
“The application for artist funding – called ‘Mish Granted’ – is literally a blank sheet of paper,” Grant said. “We want to get rid of the constraints and put the emphasis back on creativity. It’s not about how well you fill out forms or achieve arbitrary goals, it’s about what you want to create, make, dream and do.”
Mish Initiative encompasses three main philanthropic arenas: Mish Granted creates a grant pool of $20,000 yearly for directly supporting artists, with a maximum award of $1500 per applicant.
The annual application period opens Oct. 1 and closes Nov. 15. Mish Granted emphasizes giving to musicians/music-related projects. Mish n’ Booster will award cash and in-kind donations to organizations and events aligning with Mish values. Applications will be accepted in January and September each year, with a total of $15,000 available annually.
Mish Match will pay Mishawaka employees for up to five hours per month spent volunteering, and will match employee giving up to $300 per month. The Mish Match mission is to motivate staff and strengthen community by incentivizing philanthropic action by employees.
Mishawaka merchandise vendor Nicole Marcisofsky is among the employees who helped design the Mish Initiative program, and says she felt “honored and ecstatic” to be invited to assist in its creation.
“On a personal level, it gave me a jolt of passion and incentive to get involved; it helped me see I can have an impact on the world around me,” Marcisofsky said.
For more information on the Mish Initiative or to apply, visit: http://www.themishawaka.com/mish-initiative/
WOW … another year of Bohemian Nights at New West Fest is over. If you attended, I hope you discovered a new band to love – and enjoyed our out of state guests – Cake, Brandi Carlile and Todd Snider.
Sept 9 = GOATZ! and Kerry Pastine & the Crime Scene at 
Chris K's Colorado Playlist 