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By Katherine Bellamy –
The Salvation Army Boys & Girls Club in Durham, N.C., recently held an event modeled after the Guitars Not Guns Music Program.
Guitars Not Guns is a program designed to prevent violence in schools and on the streets by providing guitar lessons during an eight-week program for children and teens.
The Salvation Army Boys & Girls Club adopted the idea that music can open doors that some children never knew existed. Executive Director James Johnson said he was kept off the streets as a child because he learned to play the bass guitar.
WNCN News Anchor Sean Maroney and Reporter Jonathan Rodriguez even taught several kids from the club the basics of guitar. By the end of the day, some children who had never even held a guitar before were making up songs and playing them for an audience by the end of the day. Two kids even won free guitars, thanks to a generous donation from Bob Moulton of National Pawn.
Representatives from North Carolina Central University set up basketball scrimmages, line dances, and football tosses for our kids that weren’t learning to play guitar.
