Martin Guitar Charitable Foundation Announces 2023 Grants

Foundation Awarded $485,500 in Grants to Support Communities in the Lehigh Valley and Nationally

Nazareth, PA - February 21, 2024


The Martin Guitar Charitable Foundation announced that it awarded $485,500 in grants to over 85 nonprofit organizations in 2023, creating opportunities for the communities in which their employees live in Nazareth, Pennsylvania and throughout the Lehigh Valley, as well as acoustical music organizations nationally. 

These grants support the foundation’s focus areas: performance, participation, and education in acoustic steel string guitar music; community activity in the Nazareth region; study and preservation of America’s acoustic guitar heritage; arts education programs emphasizing acoustic guitar; educational institutions in the Lehigh Valley; promotion of arts and culture, mainly in the Lehigh Valley; help for the poor, hungry, sick, and homeless in the Lehigh Valley; and environmental action related to guitar-making materials and processes. 

Grants ranging from $1,000 to $35,000 were awarded to local and national programs. Lehigh Valley and regional organizations receiving foundation support in 2023 were: 

  • Allentown Art Museum 
  • Allentown Rescue Mission 
  • Allentown Symphony Association 
  • ArtsQuest 
  • B.E.S.T. 
  • Bethlehem Emergency Sheltering 
  • Big Brothers Big Sisters 
  • Bloom for Women 
  • Boy Scouts of America-Minsi Trails Council 
  • Bradbury-Sullivan LGBTQ Community Center 
  • Burn Prevention Network 
  • Casey Doolin Foundation 
  • Cedar Crest College 
  • Center for Humanistic Change 
  • Community Action Committee of the Lehigh Valley 
  • Community Bike Works 
  • Community Music School 
  • Da Vinci Science Center 
  • Family Connection of Easton 
  • Family Promise of the Lehigh Valley 
  • Fox Chase Cancer Center 
  • Godfrey Daniels 
  • Greater Easton Development Partnership 
  • Greater Valley YMCA-Nazareth Branch 
  • Hispanic Center Lehigh Valley 
  • Historic Bethlehem Museums and Sites 
  • Holy Family School 
  • IceHouse Performing Arts Center 
  • Lehigh Gap Nature Center 
  • Lehigh Valley Active Life 
  • Lehigh Valley Zoological Society 
  • Lifepath 
  • Meals on Wheels-Northampton County 
  • Memorial Library of Nazareth and Vicinity 
  • Miller-Keystone Blood Center 
  • Moravian University 
  • Moravian Historical Society 
  • Moravian Music Foundation 
  • Muhlenberg College 
  • Nazareth Area Food Bank 
  • Nazareth Economic Development Commission 
  • Nazareth Center for the Arts 
  • New Bethany Ministries 
  • New Hope Helping 
  • Northampton Community College Foundation 
  • Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival 
  • Pennsylvania Youth Theatre 
  • Philadelphia Folksong Society 
  • Philadelphia Outward Bound 
  • ProJeCt of Easton 
  • Reading Music Foundation 
  • Rock to the Future 
  • Special Olympics Pennsylvania 
  • State Theatre Center for the Arts 
  • Third Street Alliance 
  • Touchstone Theatre 
  • United Way of the Greater Lehigh Valley 
  • Valley Youth House 
  • Via of the Lehigh Valley 
  • Visiting Nurse Association-St. Luke’s 
  • Volunteer Center of the Lehigh Valley 
  • WDIY 88.1 
  • Wildlands Conservancy

The foundation also made grants to national organizations with a strong arts presence and programs in acoustic guitar education and research: 

  • Abriendo Mentes (TX) 
  • The Ashokan Center (NY) 
  • At The Tabernacle (NJ) 
  • Birthplace of Country Music (VA) 
  • Boston University (MA) 
  • Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum (TN) 
  • Folk Alliance International (MO) 
  • The Folk Project (NJ) 
  • Guitars in the Classroom (CA) 
  • Junior Appalachian Musicians, Inc. (VA) 
  • Jalopy Theatre and School of Music (NY) 
  • Museum of Making Music (CA) 
  • Musical Instrument Museum (AZ) 
  • Old Town School of Folk Music (IL) 
  • Queen Bee Music Association (NM) 
  • University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (NC) 
  • Woodsongs Old-Time Radio Hour (KY) 
  • Worcester Polytechnic Institute (MA) 

The foundation will receive proposals for 2024 grants from June 1 to August 31, 2024. For more information, please visit martinguitar.com/martin-foundation. 

Contact: Kim Plyler | kim@sahlcomm.com 


About the Martin Guitar Charitable Foundation 

The Martin Guitar Charitable Foundation is an independent, nonprofit organization. Started in 1996 by C. F. Martin IV, the foundation supports causes by giving grants to nonprofit music, arts, education, environmental action, and human services groups. Foundation trustees seek to achieve the best value in awarding grants for the people and causes the grantees serve. 


About C. F. Martin & Co. 

C. F. Martin & Co. has been making the finest handcrafted acoustic guitars for nearly two hundred years. For some of the biggest names and the most revered musical legends across every genre and every decade. And we’ve been doing it with pure artistic passion, a deep love for all things music, and an unwavering commitment to our community and the environment. 

But most importantly, we’re still doing it... for you. For current and future generations of pioneers, rebels, and dreamers. For the beginners, the pros, and everyone in between. We believe music is an unstoppable force. It raises us up. Tells our truths. Gets us on our feet. Expresses our deepest heartaches. And our greatest joys. 

So, we’ll continue to make the very best acoustic instruments and strings for as long as there are people like you who love music and love making it. We want to be there to help you tell your story. To help you share your music with the world. To help unleash the artist within. 

We’re ready for the next two hundred years. Want to come with us? Visit martinguitar.com.