Donate to Shangö Mountain Taiko
Help us bring the Heartbeat of Japanese Taiko to the Mountains of Appalachia – with more Drums – and all the things we need.
SMT’s Shimedaiko, our small 17in. Eisa-Odaiko, his “Big Brother”, a 21in. Nagado Chu-Daiko. We need MORE.
Please Help Us Out! Tasukete kudasai!
What we're trying to do is audacious. A community taiko group in a small, rural Applaachian town far from the centers of North America Taiko - with no Zen Temple, no Buddhist Church, No Japan Society, No significant Asian American Community, No Colleges or Universities, and no major Institutional Sponsors. Our schools here in rural Morgan County, WV are chronically strapped for cash. So your support just means the world to this bunch of hillbillies with sticks! Arigato Gozaimasu!!!
As a very new group, we pretty much need...well, everything. As an unsponsored Community Group, our Members and trainees pay out of pocket for everything we use and need, costumes, some of our rehearsal spaces, training materials, instruments, travel expenses... literally the works.
But more than anything else, we need drums! Taiko Drums are scary expansive. When asked what a new Taiko Drum costs, think of ten djembe drums, or a your first used car, and go up from there. Obtaining and access to quality and culturally appropiate instuments are the overriding main barrier to entry for Taiko players and Taiko Groups!
We don't have a 501(3)c yet. The paperwork is... quite formidable. We’ve started that process, but it's going to take more than a little time to pull together that very proceedural and legally detailed task. While we work on that, we’ve partnered with Taiko Community Alliance as a Fiscal Sponsor, and can seek funding and donations under their 501(3)c umbrella. And your donations through TCA are tax-deductible.
We plan to apply for a WV Department of Arts, Culture & History Arts Grant for Living Traditions: Folk Art Project Support. Our sponsorship partneship with the TCA allows us to seek the Grant under their 501c3 status. However, the grant we are targeting requires us to raise 25% of the requested funds ourselves. If we request the full available grant, we'd have to raise about $1250 as our portion. However, that could help secure two nagado taiko, and another shimedaiko!
We very gratefully accept your donations. Even the smallest amounts help us out a lot, and you can say you helped!
TAIKO COMMUNITY ALLIANCE IS NOW A FISCAL SPONSOR
In 2024, Taiko Community Alliance has added a new program to better serve the taiko community. TCA understands that many members of our community are solo artists, community groups, or aspiring nonprofits that could benefit from mentorship and sponsorship to access larger sources of funding. Benefits of the program include applying for specific grant funding and providing an avenue to offer tax-deductible contributions from donors.
In essence, the Taiko Community Alliance acts as a partner for Shangö Mountain Taiko’s projects, performances, or donation campaigns, enabling donors to receive a tax deduction for their contributions. TCA also provides a gateway to apply for grants that are solely accessible for 501c3 organizations. TCA will collect these funds and allocate them towards costs and endeavors that align with TCA’s mission.
Domo Arigato gozaimasu for however you can help!
We really appreciate it!
Return to the Shangö Mountain Taiko Home Page.
Click here for Training & Reference Materials, Docs & Audio Files.
If you want to learn more about Taiko, Visit our Taiko Page
if you are interested in additional workshops, regular classes in this dynamic and expressive Japanese Drumming art, or joining Shangö Mountain Taiko, please contact us.
Contact Us
It you want to get in touch with us, find out about training sessions, workshops, or events. Make a gig request, offer to sponor us, or ask us about anything we're up to, visit our Contact Page or email us at info@shangopercussion.org. Arigato gozaimasu!
COVID-19 GUIDANCE – The safety of our drum community is always our first priority. We still recommend to please take all appropriate health precautions and practice good hygiene and steps to prevent illness as recommended by the CDC.
If you’ve tested positive, feeling unwell, or need to isolate, no problem! It's absolutely okay to say home and miss one. We certainly understand, and we do want to protect each other. Recover, get healthy, and we’ll see you next time!
Drum safe! Yassai!