Our History
See where we began and where we are headed...
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The idea for the Noteworthy Kids Initiative began in the Spring of 2015 when my family and I went to Big Stone Gap, Virginia, to visit Dr. Ralph Stanley’s Hills of Home festival. I was talking with my father about what a wonderful experience it is to participate in music. It’s always been a personal passion of mine, but not everyone gets the opportunity to play for one reason or another. When the concert was wrapping up, I asked my father if there was something I might be able to do to get more people involved in music who otherwise might not have the chance. As it would happen, the owner of a musical instrument company was also at the festival, so I asked if I could work as a dealer for the company. This turned out to be the first step down a long and incredible journey of contributing musical instruments to children in need. Over the years I sold a few dozen instruments here and there to both friends and people I met along the way, using the proceeds to buy more instruments for the children.
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Most of the initial instruments were donated to kids involved with the Mountain Music School in Big Stone Gap, Virginia. Some of the students received the instruments directly, while the library of the school also received instruments to loan to students who were participating in the program. The leader of the music school ended up helping the initiative by putting me in contact with other local leaders who were involved with kids in music. After that, we went straight to contributing instruments to individuals directly, rather than through the music school. This way felt much more fulfilling as we were given the opportunity to see exactly where the instruments went, all while remaining anonymous. I specifically remember one young girl who received one of our guitars, and it happened to be the exact make, model, and color of guitar that she had seen in a store window not one month prior. It was her dream instrument, and I think that was the first time that I saw firsthand what an incredible difference I can make with this company.
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Although COVID-19 interrupted some of our plans, we have not stopped our efforts. During the pandemic, the initiative was formally incorporated as a 501C3 Non-Profit Organization, which allowed us to work with donors more efficiently, and gave us the ability to make a bigger difference in each community. Even more recently, I was able to get in contact with the director of the Muncie Youth Symphony Orchestra, who is helping me to grow our operations in Muncie, Indiana. I wanted to expand this program to the Muncie area, because this is where I attend university, and I would like to give back to the community to which I belong. In a short amount of time, we were able to raise money for 5 violins and a cello, which quickly has become over a dozen instruments for Muncie children.
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“Music is a higher revelation than all wisdom and philosophy. Music is the electrical soil in which the spirit lives, thinks and invents.”
-Ludwig van Beethoven