At a morning assembly at Albert Hill Middle School last week, students were surprised by a donation of musical instruments. (Photo by Ben Wasserstein)
On Friday, Sept. 27, a Southern rock band called The Vegabonds partnered with a nonprofit organization to donate instruments to the music department at Richmond's Albert Hill Middle School.
“It's very special for us, because we're able to give the love of our musical talents back to these kids and hopefully inspire them a little bit,” says Daniel Allen, lead vocalist of the Tennessee-based group, which was in town for a concert at The Broadberry.
The band made the donation in connection with the nonprofit Can’d Aid’s “Tunes” program. The program provides music lessons, musical instruments and music scholarships to schools. Instruments donated to Albert Hill include violins, violas, saxophones and clarinets. Students at the middle school were not told what the morning assembly would be about until it began.
“I'm always a fan of the community coming together to do things right by our kids,” says Albert Hill teacher and band director Micah Lee. “I want to reach out to everyone in our various communities to be able to actually fix things for our kids.”
Lee, a music teacher of eight years, sees his role — and the role of music — as crucial for childhood development.
“The main thing is that what we do in music and arts, and arts in general, is [to be] that bridge ... [to] open up a child who may have some trauma,” Lee says. “It opens them up a little bit easier to us, being able to ... meet them at that need and then to help them heal.”
Can’d Aid sponsors donation events such as this one in schools across the country. Donations are accepted on their website.
