It’s no surprise that arts funding is one of the casualties of the state’s budget crisis. Organizations and schools are getting creative with how they respond to the spending freeze. The Community Charter School is planning a family-friendly event at The Philosopher’s Stone this Saturday to benefit their music department after the state took back monies allocated for the school.

This event is slated for 2 p.m. through 2 a.m. and will include seven bands/performers — Deformati, Matthew Paul Butler, Thank You Spaceman, Sill Live Static, Near Gravity, Chasing Edison, Mons Venera — instrument-making activities, ping pong, a bean bag toss, hula hoops and more. Outdoor activities are slated for 2 to 7 p.m., after which, the music moves indoors.

Though the event is free, donations (cash or gently-used instruments) are encouraged.

Music teacher Artie Denham says, “We have instruments that are badly in need of repair, and we lack certain basics like a working clarinet, or a tuned piano. The goal of the fundraiser is not necessarily to buy new instruments, “but to repair or tune what instruments we have.”