Plymouth-Canton Marching Band Seeking Help for New York Trip

The Plymouth-Canton Marching Band is looking for help to travel to New York City this November to march in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. 

The band has been engaged in the Pepsi Refresh project, which awards grants to fund creative opportunities.

Below is text from a press release from the marching band:

It’s no secret that the Plymouth-Canton Marching Band (PCMB) has been invited to march in the 2011 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade this November in New York City. Now it’s up to the students, parents and boosters to fundraise 100 percent of the trip cost to make this invitation a reality. 

For all of June, PCEP’s Marching Band is in the running for a $25,000 grant from the Pepsi Refresh program. Over 170 projects are competing for a top 15 finish to win the grant, and with just under three days left in the month, it’s a neck-to-neck race to win the grant. The boosters and band members are asking the Metro Detroit area to help out by visiting www.refresheverything.com/pcep-macys2011 and voting daily for Help the PCEP Marching Band go to 2011 Macy’s Day Parade.  Only one vote per email account is permitted per day. Also you can text 106715 to Pepsi (73774) to vote from your mobile.

Power votes are permitted too, and these special mystery codes are the key to winning this grant at this late stage.  Power votes are found inside yellow caps of Pepsi, Diet Pepsi, and Pepsi Max and can be worth anywhere from five to 100 votes in a single code.  Some cases of Pepsi also contain the power vote codes.  Up to 10 codes are permitted per email address. 

Corporations, alumni, and friends can also donate directly to Plymouth-Canton Music Boosters, a non-profit organization.  Each year, the Boosters must raise over $300,000 to run the marching band program, an extra curricular activity at the Plymouth-Canton Educational Park.  In addition to transporting the band to and from New York this year, all the instructors, uniforms, band camps, etc. must be paid.  Visit www.pcmb.net for details on the sponsorship program for corporations and individuals.

“We need all of our friends, alumni, and boosters to support our fundraising efforts,” stated Erin Babcock, president of the 2011 Plymouth Canton Music Boosters. “The money raised this year will go towards the cost for the band to travel to New York City this November.  Plymouth-Canton is the first Michigan band on record to be invited to Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York.  It’s truly the Super Bowl for marching bands and we’re so honored our kids were invited.”

The award-winning high school band is comprised of students at the in Canton, MI.