The community at large is the entire basis of any music program! The support of family members, friends, and the staff/faculty create a community of support for students to develop and grow in an elementary or middle school band program. To a music program, parents support their students by giving up their time to assist with various band events (chaperones), pick up and drop off their students, attend concerts, and support an environment at home to allow students to practice their instruments. Financially, parents often pay for instruments, supplies, repairs, and band fees every year to support the upkeep of playing an instrument in an ensemble. In high school band programs, parents often give up many hours of their time to assist with moving instrument equipment, supervising kids, meals for the band, uniform fitting, etc The community at large supports the program through attendance of concerts and financial support (local businesses and patrons of the arts). Without our parents and the members of the community, music programs could not exist both in time commitments and financial requirements.
In my student teaching internship experience, I met many parents throughout the band programs assisting at Solo & Ensemble Festival, Assessment, concert preparation and teardown, and picking up their students for after-school rehearsals.