Here’s a heartwarming story from the US: more than 2,000 free musical instruments have been given away to the victims of last year’s Hurricane Helene in North Carolina.
The charity drive was organised by WoodSongs Old Time Radio Hour, a radio show created by folk singer Michael Johnathon. The WoodSongs team spent months collecting donated instruments in other parts of the US such as Ohio, Kentucky and New York. The giveaway was centred on the community of Swannanoa, which was particularly hard hit by last year’s disaster. Some residents lost everything, including, of course, their instruments.
“We haven’t forgotten the situation of folks affected by Helene,” Johnathon said before the giveaway. “You are the comfortable rocking chair of America’s musical front porch. So many people donated violins, guitars, cellos, banjos, trumpets, and more. The response has been phenomenal.”
“It is simply the right thing to do,” Johnathon told a reporter from WLOS News. “You collect 1,600 instruments and they’re gone.” That total was topped up by one of the rising stars of US country music, 15-year-old Nashville prodigy Wyatt Ellis, who helped to bring in another 100 or so instruments. All 2,000 were given away on a first come, first serve basis.
The event was Johnathon’s third such charity instrument drive and whilst it was intended to help North Carolinians hit by Helene in particular, recipients didn’t have to provide proof of residence or any additional information.
It’s not the first hurricane relief project organised by the music community. Last autumn a charity compilation album, Cardinals At The Window, was put together in double quick time to provide immediate assistance to those hit by Helene. Artists featured on the album included REM, Jason Isbell, Fleet Foxes, The War On Drugs, Waxahatchee, Sylvan Esso and many others. You can still purchase a copy from the project’s Bandcamp page
