NY Met, Al Leiter, “Pitches in” for Music Education

Baseball Great Joins Little Kids Rock Honorary Board

September 27, 2004 – San Francisco, CA - Little Kids Rock (LKR) an innovative non-profit program that provides free instruments and music curriculum to children, announced today that New York Mets pitcher, Al Leiter, will be joining Little Kids Rock as an Honorary Board Member. Mr. Leiter’s involvement with Little Kids Rock is just one of his many endeavors that help give back to the community.

“ I am proud to be teaming up with Little Kids Rock to bring music education to public school children,” said Al Leiter of the NY Mets. “At a time when funding for music programs is being cut in schools across the country, Little Kids Rock’s work is more important than ever.”

"We are delighted that Al Leiter has accepted an appointment to our Honorary Board," said David Wish, founder and Executive Director of Little Kids Rock. “Mr. Leiter is a long-standing champion of children’s causes, so it is no surprise that his ideals and tremendous foresight align with the mission of Little Kids Rock.”

With an impressive professional baseball career spanning nearly fifteen years, Al Leiter became an avid coordinator and participant in aid organizations in 1998. At that time, Mr. Leiter publicly pledged to donate $1 million to kids' causes, mostly through a foundation he and his wife launched called the Leiterlanding Children’s Foundation.
Among his gifts to the communities was his establishment of a tutoring project in Harlem and a $100,000 donation for the construction of a Little League baseball field in his hometown of Toms River, New Jersey.

Since 1998, Mr. Leiter’s foundation has donated more than $400,000 to various charities including $200,000 for a children's playground at the Rusk Institute for Rehabilitation. Mr. Leiter helped found and dedicate the Leiterslanding Foundation Playroom on February 7, 2002. The playroom is located on the pediatric floor of NYU Medical Center's Rusk Institute of Rehabilitation Medicine.

Al Leiter is the latest name on LKR's growing list of high profile supporters. Bonnie Raitt, Paul Simon, BB King, Jason Newsted, Dave Mason and Les Paul are all honorary members of the Board of Directors. Carlos Santana's Milagro Foundation has purchased more than $10,000 worth of instruments for the program. Bob Weir and members of the Grateful Dead have funded classes. The String Cheese Incident has held silent auctions for the organization. John Lee Hooker was a founding Board Member and visited classes before his passing.

About Little Kids Rock
Little Kids Rock believes that music is a critical component of first-rate education. Many elementary schools have been stripped of their music programs. These cuts have had a disproportionately large impact on children from low-income backgrounds. Little Kids Rock restores music to its rightful place in the academic lives of kids in our public schools by providing a rich music education program including instrument instruction, free instruments and trained mentors. Founded by a single elementary school teacher in 1996, Little Kids Rock is now serving 2,000 students in CA, NY, NJ and TN. Bonnie Raitt, Paul Simon, B.B. King and Les Paul sit on our Honorary Board of Directors and we are supported by friends Carlos Santana, Phish, Bob Weir and others. Little Kids Rock programs are scheduled to launch in the Los Angeles area in 2004. More information can be found at: www.littlekidsrock.org