Warrior Songs Outreach Report
2018 California – Jason Moon
10/04 to 10/08
10/04/2018 – We loaded up the car and made the drive from Chandler, AZ to San Diego, CA. Got tucked into our Airbnb and went out to grab some food. Took my daughter and wife down to the pier. I love San Diego; it is one of my favorite cities. I wish we had more time to spend there.
10/05/2018 – The afternoon was spent working with Jo-El Tapia, the music program coordinator at The Veterans Village of San Diego (VVSD). It was a good session. About seven veterans attended and we got a chorus, bridge, and two verses of a song started as well as testimony enough to complete a song. I have been tired and spacey so the song we gathered there will have to wait, plus, I’m trying to write with co-writers more often. I discussed with Jo-El, also a songwriter, about her collecting testimony and creating a song for “The Last Thing We Ever Do: Warrior Songs Vol. 3”. If it works out, she will collect testimony from Vietnam Veterans recovering from addiction and homelessness. My heart was warmed when later that day a veteran resident told me they would continue the tradition of writing songs after I left.
Later that night I performed for a crowd of about 20 veterans and 5 staff. My good friend, the clinical director of VVSD, Marilyn Cornell attended. We talked about my coming back in late June to play their 51st stand down. It turned into a greater family discussion about possibly touring all the way up to San Fran Cisco Summer 2019. Every veteran got a copy of “Trying to Find My Way Home” and “If You Have to Ask… Warrior Songs Vol. 1” I also left behind several copies of each for later distribution.
Miles driven: 357
CD’s given out: 75
Veterans reached 27
10/06/2018 – We woke up early and headed to Los Angeles. We stayed with our dear friends Tra and Maggie in Pasadena. Warrior Songs turned Tra’s story into a song for “Women at War: Warrior Songs Vol 2.” Leilani Squire set up a writing workshop with veterans at Wellness Works in Glendale. It was good to see Mary Lu Coughlin and Saddy. Good to see the group at Wellness Works. A group of three Veterans at Wellness Works worked on a song during the afternoon, which will also be finished at some later date. We had a nice concert in the evening. Talked with a veteran about WS. Vol. 3. Left CD’s behind for veterans. Here is a link to the song we wrote last time I was at wellness works.
Miles driven: 130
CD’s given out: 75
Veterans reached 10
10/07/2018 – Today was a personal day. The nice part about living out in Arizona is that I can bring my family along on short outreach trips. Penny saw the ocean for the first time. Sarah saw the Pacific for the first time. LA traffic was horrible as usual. Nothing like a visit to Santa Monica “Muscle Beach” to make you feel out of shape. After that, we went down to Hollywood. Penny and I scoped out where her star will go one day. We found a good spot. A day in the sun, and not sleeping in my own bed, wore me out. But we hung around long enough to see the VIP’s coming in for the Miss Veteran USA event. We were literally in town for it, so we swung by. It was a black tie event and I was in shorts, with wet shoes from the beach. Missed seeing Brigette McCoy who was in town for the event.
Personal Day
10/08/2018 – We said goodbye to Tra and Maggie and headed back to Chandler, AZ. Tired and sunburnt we drove home.
Total miles driven: 887
Total CD’s given out: 150
Total veterans reached 37
Cost
Meals $128
Lodging $275.25
Fuel $146.38
Total $549.63
Funding
Warrior Songs Outreach Fund $250.00
Donations collected $270.00
Total $520.00
Out of pocket costs - $29.63
10/22/2017 JRM