Penn State alums combine music with philanthropy to benefit ACRES Project

Members of SpareChange are combining their love of music with their passion to give back.

On Saturday, three of the five members of the Pittsburgh-based web video series group made their way to the State College area to start the first of a four-day effort to document the ACRES Project, which helps autistic and special needs adults transition into independent living.

The SpareChange team, which includes Penn State alums Josh Corcoran and Jared Stillman, produces a web series that documents the musical journey of the band Table Ten, founded by Corcoran and Stillman while at Penn State, while raising awareness and money for nonprofits.

The goal is to release the Acres Project episode online by the end of July, with the vision to tell “the right story,” according to Corcoran.

“At the end of the day, we want to look at it and say, ‘This is the story we want to tell,’ ” Corcoran said.

Corcoran said the idea to feature the ACRES Project came earlier in the year when a friend introduced him to board member Doug Martin.

“I was in town for this leadership program that Penn State sponsors, and while I was there, we met up and it was a big part of Doug’s ambition,” he said.

ACRES, Adults Creating Residential and Employment Solutions, was founded in 2014.

The nonprofit in December acquired a longtime vacant home on Bernel Road that once housed the Second Mile.

“We’re getting a lot of people saying this place is finally being used for something positive,” ACRES Project secretary and treasurer Cathy Prosek said. “We’ve been looking for a long time for a home with a rural setting and we wanted that connection to the earth. There were a lot of hoops to jump through on our mission, but we finally got there.”

Renovations of the home started in February, and Prosek said the goal is to be completed by the end of summer so the home can be used to temporarily house clients.

Filming with the group started Saturday afternoon at the home and will last through Tuesday. SpareChange members spoke with organizers and toured the home. They also plan to work with local businesses that are raising money for ACRES, and play shows at bars and restaurants in the Centre Region to raise awareness.

“We’ll film today (Saturday) and film everything we do to try to get as much footage,” Corcoran said.

Video is captured by cellphone, drone footage and a GoPro.

“We started this whole thing and didn’t know it would turn out to be something,” Corcoran said.

The initiative started in February.

Corcoran said he was playing a gig with the band in Pittsburgh and later took their music to the streets.

“It was just for our own giggles and we filmed it,” Corcoran said.

A guitar case was filling up with money, and Corcoran said a man approached them asking for spare change.

“We just gave him all the money and his reaction was that he didn’t expect it, and we had a moment like ‘we have something here’,” Corcoran said.

So far, SpareChange has produced seven web series featuring groups such as Pittsburgh-based Educational Partnership and Horses for Heroes.

“We do what we think is cool,” Corcoran said. “We can go play and it turns into something more positive. Over time, we got to meet so many great people and causes people don’t know about. So instead of just targeting one group, we feel like we’re part of this project and bringing other people into it.”

The videos are uploaded on social media platforms, including Facebook and YouTube.

This story was originally published July 2, 2017 at 12:02 AM with the headline "Penn State alums combine music with philanthropy to benefit ACRES Project."