NORTHERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF VISUAL AND PERFORMING ARTS

A crowdfunding campaign supported by the NIU School of Music and the NIU Foundation to help support the expenses of three NIU Steelpan Studies graduate studies from Trinidad and Tobago was recently featured in their home country’s largest newspaper, The Guardian.

Joshua Bedeau, Jalen Charles and Rashunda Dorset-Headley know the challenges of being international students, but the three are not letting them stand in the way of pursuing their master of music degrees with an emphasis in Steelpan Studies.

With about ten days remaining, the crowdfunding project had generated more than $4,200 in donations, but was still not at the halfway point. The three students will use those funds to cover the costs of their health insurance and living expenses as they work towards degrees that they plan to use to change and impact the steelband community in their homeland and all over the world.

You can support the three students through the JJR Steelpan Relief fund by donating online. The relief fund will help aid Joshua, Jalen, and Rashunda (JJR) in their educational journey, and allow them to fully focus on their degree and make the best out of every opportunity.