The Long and Winding Road to Macy's Day Parade: Greendale Marching Band Needs Boost

GREENDALE — This Thanksgiving more than 50 million television viewers will get to see the Greendale High School marching band as they perform at the famed Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade.

But before they do, they need your help just to get there.

Travel is expensive, and to get the band to New York, they'll need funding to cover the following costs:

- Transportation, including instruments, uniforms and gear
- Meals on the road
- Lodging
- Incidental expenses

The Greendale Marching Band was selected from 175 applicants as one of 10 bands that will march in the 2016 parade - and the only one from Wisconsin in the last six years.

Band boosters originally wanted to raise $250,000 to pay for everything - including 100 percent student participation in the trip, however organizers have scaled their goal back to $100,000 to help fund as much of the trip as possible.

Here is a statement from band director Tom Reifenberg:

"We want every student who has the desire to learn and perform music to have the opportunity to participate. We keep the marching band fees to a minimum, but for many economic reasons, more and more students cannot afford even those low fees, so our regular fundraising helps them out. But the parade is a “once-in-a-blue-moon” event, and the costs are a one-time additional expense that many cannot afford. We do ask those families that can pay to do so, of course. But for many there is a gap."

As of May 1, they have collected $57,454 according to an online tally at Youcaring.com - an online fundraising portal, and had raised approximately $70,000 overall by the third week of April.

The next fundraising event for the Greendale Marching Band comes up in early June for their Race to the Parade fun run. You can register here for the event.

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