Dedicated to supporting the arts and the United States, D’Addario is offering continued support to the inspirational organization, T-Shirts4Troops’ Music Program, which contributes music lessons to active duty wounded soldiers who have been seriously harmed while protecting our freedoms.
T-Shirts4Troops was started by three traveling musicians who, while on a USO tour, visited the wounded in the hospital. What they discovered was that these men and women had to wait for their clothing to be delivered to them once they were admitted. "It was hard not to cry, seeing America’s best with little or no clothing to wear while recouping," said Debbie Peters of T-Shirts4Troops. As a result, the group started buying clothes to give to the troops. Four years later, T-Shirts4Troops continues to reach out to active duty combat injured troops to provide "super hero tee shirts to America's super heroes.” Since then, the organization has found additional ways to equip the wounded in moving forward with their lives.
“It's been proven that when a wounded troop with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder gets involved with performing music and or learning an instrument, the synapses in the brain fire more quickly and more effectively, bringing healing to the individual and significantly reducing recovery time,” comments Jim Peters of T-Shirts4Troops. Thus, in addition to offering clothing for the troops, T-Shirts4Troops has provided 115 donated guitars, basses and ukuleles to help with healing. They’ve been teaching on average over 35 lessons per week at Walter Reed and Bethesda hospitals, where most of their outreach happens.
D’Addario continues to donate strings and accessories which outfit the donated instruments, and helps to set-up each guitar for the specific needs of the wounded troop, as many have limited mobility in their hands and need light or nylon strings.
“Simply put, we could NOT do this as effectively as we do without the generous help of D’Addario and its subsidiaries,” says Peters. “THANK YOU. As a double amputee, wounded Marine said ‘you guys bring hope to us at the hospital, and you can't heal without hope!!’ So, D’Addario brings HOPE; we couldn't say that any better.”
“We are humbled at the opportunity to support such an inspirational organization,” says David Via, Vice President of Sales at D’Addario. “It is the least we can do for those who risk their lives to protect our freedoms.”
D’Addario is committed to providing for those who seek the highest levels of inspiration, musically and beyond.
For more information on D’Addario, visit www.daddario.com. For more information and to donate to T-Shirts4Troops, please visit www.ts4t.org.
