One of the most famous names in sports, legendary University of Tennessee Knoxville quarterback Peyton Manning, threw a tight spiral of funding our way earlier this year. The now Denver Broncos QB’s PeyBack Foundation gave the Joy of Music School a grant for $7,500 to help underwrite Midsummer Music Mentoring, a program of instruction that introduced kids to basic music-reading skills and practical experience. It was the largest grant we’d ever secured from Manning’s foundation and the first since 2007. We were so grateful we nearly got flagged for excessive celebrating!