Help Drum Teacher Michael Tiger Recover from the Eaton Fire

Dear Friends and Community,

I know many of us have been inundated with requests for mutual aid since the Eaton and Palisades Fires had such an impact on so many.

We're adding to this, to support our friend, and beloved teacher of percussion to our sons, Michael Tiger (aka Michael Mende). Michael has brought immeasurable energy, musical knowledge, and generosity to our children and to many others across the region.

Unfortunately, Michael lost his longtime Altadena rental home, along with most of his personal possessions including well over a dozen musical instruments and a lot of other gear, in the Eaton fire. Immediately in the wake of the fire, Michael told friends he "lost my home, but not my happiness"--a measure of his equanimity in the face of disaster. But he still has had both a trauma and a serious material loss.

This fundraiser, while not aimed at restoring any particular instruments or other possessions for Michael, will provide him general financial support to help him to get one step closer to recovering. Michael will receive all funds donated to this fundraising effort, for that purpose.

Michael is a gifted musician and teacher. He has been a percussionist since he was a small child, and began teaching at age 13. He has continuously studied, taught, and performed to the present day, with much of his recent career devoted to teaching and participating in community drumming events, including at Rhythms of the Village in Altadena as well as in other venues throughout the region. He has learned from master musicians from West Africa, Brazil, and Cuba, and teaches and performs Afro-Cuban, industrial, West African, Afro-Caribbean, and Brazilian drumming, as well as kit drumming and more. We've personally seen that Michael is also a master of using found and hand-created objects as percussion.

Most of all, Michael has passed on his passion for percussion to his students and their families and friends, with an unusual generosity of spirit, a wry sense of humor, and always with joy and kindness. He has invited siblings, parents, and friends to join in lessons and other opportunities to participate, taken his students and their families on impromptu field trips to explore percussion around the city, and invited his students to develop cultural and musical connections across different Los Angeles communities--all from his heart.

Thank you for your generosity, and for considering this fundraiser among all the worthy mutual aid opportunities that have been going around.

Warmly,

Sean Hecht, Rebecca Weiker, and Sheila and David Giammarco