Walk for Music: Sample emails and messages

Get inspired by other SANS walkers! You can use/adapt any of these or get inspired to write your own.
If you come up with something you like, please send it to us at sharinganewsong@gmail.com and we’ll post it here for more inspiration!

 1. From Patty Parker: A newsy, personal appeal describing SANS, our mission and our trips

You can use Patty’s email as an example of a way to describe SANS and encourage people to support you on your walk.

Fall 2026

Dear Family and extended family…(Dear Friends) We hope you are doing well!

On Saturday, October 10, John and I are participating in a fundraising Walk for Music in support of our chorus Sharing a New Song (SANS). I have been a member of SANS since the fall of 2011, and John joined in 2017.  I am writing to ask if you might sponsor us. We are acting as a team and will call ourselves PJ.

As you know, Sharing a New Song (SANS) is a non-profit community chorus. Support for the arts is more important than ever, considering what a unifying force they can be. Just as we struggle in this country to build understanding between diverse communities, SANS strives to live authentically in the sometimes confusing world of diversity, so we can learn from others and find human connectedness.  Since 1983, SANS’ international tours have included South Africa, Russia, Cuba, Eastern Europe, Brazil, China, Columbia, Nicaragua, Argentina, Uruguay and Vietnam. Domestic tours have included a sojourn to the Gullah community of South Carolina, and trips to Louisiana to become acquainted with the people of the Houma Indian Nation, and to offer song and service to communities stricken by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

In recent years, in addition to going to Peru, our traveling chorus and some non-singers followed the Civil Rights trail in Alabama, Mississippi and Tennessee. We toured five cities in Multicultural England learning about the legacy of racism. That trip was the brainchild of a tenor and Board member. Then the trip committee met weekly and did an amazing job making it come true. The series culminated with this summer’s trip to Ghana, where we had an emotional and transformative experience, different for each of us. We visited Cape Coast Castle in Elmina, where we went inside the dungeon where countless enslaved people were cruelly imprisoned and then loaded onto ships in horrific conditions. We stood at the infamous Door of No Return. Afterwards we had opportunities for reflection.  That same night we sang and danced with several lively and talented Ghanaian choruses in the courtyard of the castle. The intense emotions of our daytime experience carried over into magnificent joy in the evening. The trip was mind boggling on many levels.

You can learn more about SANS on our website: www.sanschorus.org

 The Walk for Music fundraiser is specifically aimed at providing scholarships to singers who otherwise might not be able to travel in memory of Joanne Lowry, the heart and soul of SANS for many years… This supports our aim that the chorus be inclusive of all ages, ethnicities, life experiences and socioeconomic backgrounds. 100% of your donation goes toward this fund, and your contribution is tax-deductible. 

We hope you will support us, this wonderful organization, and its mission. Your pledge will make a difference. You can donate electronically here, www.sanschorus.org/donate-to-the-sans-walk-for-music .  Or checks can be made out to Sharing A New Song and mailed to: 10 Court Street. #32, Arlington, MA, 02476.  Either way, please mention our name (PJ) online or on the check so that we may thank you personally. 

Think of us on Saturday October 10!  We will start at Calvary Methodist Church in Arlington (300 Mass Ave), then walk along the bike path to Spy Pond Park and Magnolia Park and back again (about two miles). Of course, there will be singing! Thank you so much for your generosity! 

Love,
Patty and John

2. From Claire Neely: A short “email header” to add to the top of the official SANS Walk for Music email appeal

You can add a note like this to the top of the official SANS email about the Walk for Music and forward it to family and friends.

Email subject line: Saturday October 10 I’m participating in Sharing a New Song’s Walk for Music

Dear Friends and Family,

We’ll walk along a bike path from our rehearsal space and stop to sing. It’s a fundraiser for travel scholarships so that anyone in our chorus can go on the annual trip that helps us fulfill our mission. Recently the destination was Peru, and this summer it was Ghana, which related to our Civil Rights tour of MS, AL, TN as well as to our 2024 tour of Multicultural England.

Singing with the Chorus since 2018 and being on the Board has meant the world to me in terms of personal fulfillment. Sharing a New Song aligns with my goals in every way.

Our amazing Director Donnell Patterson, and multi-talented music staff Kilian Mooney, Louise Grasmere and Linda Shoemaker make each rehearsal, event and concert a joy.

If you’d like to sponsor me, you can write in my name after you enter your donation information.

Every donation counts, no matter the amount.
Thank you,
Claire