Credit: M3F Fest // Will Fenwick
M3F Fest, North America’s most celebrated non-profit music festival, has announced the charity donation details stemming from its 2023 edition in Phoenix, Arizona. M3F donates 100% of festival proceeds to charity and is proud to announce that $800,000 was raised this year with $5.2 million donated since its inception in 2004.
The funds are now being distributed to M3F’s official beneficiaries, many of whom are first-year partners who applied via the newly created M3F Fund public application process. These organizations were required to present a clear and measurable plan for how the funds would be allocated and fall within the four pillars of the M3F ethos: Community, Education, Arts, and Environment.
The first round of allocations from the M3F Fund have already gone to longtime beneficiaries Phoenix Children’s Hospital and the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Phoenix Children’s Hospital has received $100,000 towards its Music Therapy Program, while The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society has been granted $75,000 as part of its Light The Night event fundraising efforts, which directly aid the organization's research of blood cancer and support of patients. The Light The Night event takes place in Phoenix on November 12th.
M3F is proud to welcome a wide-reaching group of beneficiaries to the 2023 M3F fund. Representing the fund’s work in the world of the arts, beneficiaries include Rosie’s House, Backline, and Free Arts for Abused Children. The event remains a pivotal force in the fight against environmental issues with donations to Desert Foothills Land Trust, Friends of the Verde River, Population Connection, McDowell Sonoran Conservancy, and Pacific Salmon Foundation.
M3F has been taking action in its community since its inception, with beneficiaries including Ivy Brain Tumor Center, Habitat for Humanity, Hospice of the Valley, Mentor Kids USA, Phoenix Children's Hospital, Arizona Helping Hands, Lifewell, New Pathways for Youth, Phoenix Rescue Mission, Saving Amy, Big Brothers Big Sisters, Child Crisis of America, Follow Your Heart Animal Rescue, Not My Kid, TGen, St. Vincent De Paul, St. Mary’s Food Bank, United Way, American Heart Association, and Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.
These partners support initiatives to ensure that all students have access to the resources they need for a quality education include Boys Hope Girls Hope, Junior Achievement of Arizona, and Elevate Phoenix.
Charity initiatives leading up to the 2023 edition included working with Cowtown Skateboards on two local activations, with the first being a donation of $25k to create a series of murals by local artists around Phoenix through its M3F Paints AZ project. The second is a project called Boards for the Barrio, where M3F donated $10k to provide kids with new and improved skateboards.
The festival has now opened applications for the M3F Fund related to the 2024 edition, which can be found here with more details. Applications are also open for the M3F Paints AZ project here, available to artists who would like to create a mural and local businesses interested in having a mural created on their property.
More details will continue to be announced related to charity donations from the 2023 edition, along with more information related to M3F Fest 2024.
Credit: M3F Fest // Neil Schwartz