Our mission is two fold…
One: Create a heightened sense of awareness within our communities to the needs of children in the Foster Care System
Two: Develop and promote projects through music and the arts that reach out and effect positive change in the lives of these children and their families
We are working to establish a Music & Arts Center, that will empower children from all over North America to utilize the therapeutic healing found in music & the arts and to provide them with the vision & opportunity in which to channel their creativity in a manner that reflects positively on our communities
Please read our story below to learn more:
If you would like to contribute to our cause, please email Tony, for more information: tony@swordspirit.net
Eye of the Dreamer Productions and the Sword & Spirit band is a labour of Love for its founding members Tony DeLorenzo, Eric Lea and Richard Ferreira.
Tony, Eric and Richard - lifelong friends - started the band and the EOTD non-profit organization as a way to reach out to children in the foster care system.
These are often the forgotten children in society. Some have been abused, neglected and/or abandoned by their biological families; and desperately need a safe, loving and perminent home. Others just need a place to call home until their situation is safe enough for them to return home.
Many of these children enter a system that makes them strangers in the places where they live, moving multiple times in short periods, never being able to create a permanent connection with their caregivers. Eventually they are "aged out" or emancipated from "the system"; destined to repeat the cycle over again.
Our music relates to the children's pain and sense of abandonment; it gives air to their feelings. The band's goal is to be a voice for these children and to encourage society not to forget them. No child is a mistake - they are all gifts from God!
We began sharing our music with foster families in April of 2001 when we were invited to attend the VT Foster/Adoptive Family Association’s annual convention, held at the Killington Grand Resort Hotel.
We performed in front of approximately 450 Vermont foster parents, social workers, educators, foster children and the Governor of the State of Vermont. At the conference we gave away over 300 copies of our first CD to foster parents, state agencies and others.
In 2003 we began hosting our own benefits to raise awareness to the needs of foster & adoptive children and families.
We typically perform 3 to 6 benefits annually traveling between VT, NH, NJ, RI, NY and CT.
The scope of our message has now expanded across the border into Canada to include children with Autism and Special Olympics.
Members of the Sword & Spirit performed at a benefit for children with Autism in Toronto, Canada helping to raise nearly $20,000 for this cause.
We were also invited by the Canadian Special Olympic Committee to kick-off their Fall 2006 fundraising campaign with a concert at Toronto’s 6 Degree’s Club. Their show was held on Friday 11/3/06 and hosted by Jessi Cruickshank of MTV Live.
Roger Waters of Pink Floyd autographed a guitar that we auctioned for $2,500.00. It was a great evening and we raised several thousand dollars for Special Olympics!
The Sword & Spirit completed our 3rd CD, ‘Eye of The Dreamer’ in December of 2006. To date we have given away over 500 copies to children in VT foster care and their families