Having a Chance to Continue Long After the Musicians are Gone

The music of Momentum Choir has a chance to continue long after the current musicians are gone, with the establishment of the choir’s new endowment fund with the Niagara Community Foundation.

The choir, which recruits, trains, and performs with adults living with a disability, was established in 2007, under the leadership of its founding director, music therapist Mendelt Hoekstra. The choir wows audiences with the elation and enthusiasm of its performances, and it gives members a feeling of pride and satisfaction to use their musical talent to entertain and inspire audiences. It’s not unusual for audience members to be moved to tears of joy when they see what the musicians are able to accomplish.

Parents who saw the value of Momentum Choir in their adult children’s lives wanted to be able to make meaningful contributions with lasting impact, Hoekstra said. They encouraged Momentum’s board of directors to establish an endowment fund. Choosing the Niagara Community Foundation as the home for that fund was an easy decision for the board to make, Hoekstra commented, especially with the way Executive Director Bryan Rose met multiple times with the board and even came to a Momentum rehearsal to see the musicians at work. Hoekstra stated the goal is to grow the Momentum Choir Fund with additional gifts – large and small – so that the annual revenue from the fund helps sustain the choir’s mission of teaching, encouraging, and loving people through music.

The fund’s donors, present and future, “want to see this organization continue for many years,” Hoekstra said. With an endowment fund in place, they can help make that happen. “They are not only thinking of their own child, they are thinking of all the others who will be benefitting.”