He has defined himself and his career with a series of “firsts.”
He was was the youngest member ever inducted into of the National Boogie Woogie Hall of Fame.
And, the first to create a moving musical platform.
Mark Braun, otherwise known as “Mr. B,” is the founder of Mr. B’s Joybox Express, a nonprofit organization that raises money for other charitable organizations aimed at youth, and their efforts in the arts and athletics.
Braun’s professional claim to fame is as an internationally-renowned blues and jazz pianist. But it is his work giving of himself that has him gotten him real celebrity in the Flint community.
This past Wednesday, Braun and Joybox Express presented a check for $100,000 to YouthQuest, the after-school and summer program that serves 2,000 students in Flint and Genesee counties.
“The funding will help support the group’s art programming, a core part of the YouthQuest’s curriculum, as well as ArtQuest 2018, the annual art exhibition, held each spring,” says Braun enthusiastically.
The donation came with the help of more than 420 donors and 80 participants. It was yet another effort on Braun’s behalf toward the betterment of Flint’s kids.
More than 2,000 artworks created by students will be shown at ArtQuest 2018, each utilizing the theme “Art in Motion.”
Braun performed this past August at the Flint & Genesee Homecoming, displaying his immense talent for playing the piano. It was another first and more offbeat venture however that made the news this summer: On Labor Day weekend, Braun played a pedal-powered piano all the way to Mackinac Island on a trip entitled the “Sprint4Flint: Ride, Swim, Play, Give,” an ambitious bike ride and swim from Flint to Mackinac Island. The 240-mile trip concluded with Braun giving a concert during the Grand Hotel Labor Day Jazz Weekend. Braun, along with 50 cyclists who each raised $500, made the venture to raise awareness for YouthQuest.
The Sprint4Flint bike ride and swim are just one part of a year-long fundraising campaign Joybox Express has led in support of YouthQuest.
For more information about or to donate to Sprint4Flint, visit joyboxexpress.com/donate.
To learn more about YouthQuest, made possible through the generous support of the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, visit yquest.org.
See more of TheHUB’s coverage:
Piano man takes to the streets and straits of Mackinac
Piano man raises $100,000 for Flint youth added by Cindi Cook on
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