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2011 Strings For Food A Big Success |
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On three dates in November, member stores of the Independent Music Store Owners (iMSO) across America collected thousands of pounds of food, and donated that food to local food banks. With strong support from D'Addario, Curt Mangan, and SIT, music stores restrung guitars with quality, name-brand strings, in exchange for non-perishable food items.
Uptown Music in Keizer, Oregon spent all of November 12, 2011 restringing 160 guitars (a 26 guitar increase from 2010), and as a result, was able to donate approximately 800 pounds of food to the Keizer Community Food Bank.
Jim Nardi, owner of Uptown Music, described his local event as a "big success".
"This really was a success on two fronts", Jim said. "On the one hand, the community donated a lot of food for the Keizer Food Bank, and the food bank takes care of a lot of people. That was needed. One the other hand, we saw a lot of neglected guitars brought back to playable condition, where they can bring joy to the players again.".
Lisa Kirkwood, of Discount Music of Jacksonville (FL), said that while the total number of instruments restrung was down slightly this year, the total pounds of food collected was way up. "This year with the help of D'Addario and Curt Mangan we changed around 60 sets of strings and collected 1500 pounds of food. We are very proud of our local musicians and supporters of this yearly event.".
Other music store owners around the country echoed Lisa's sentiments, and noted that their communities were very charitable, bringing in more food this year than last year.
 Glen Giles, owner of Gorilla Guitars in Columbus, GA, added "This was our best year yet with donations; about 250 lbs. Someone even brought in 2 cases of canned green beans! We had several bring in donations but no guitars; that's okay. It's getting the food in that matters most."
Glen is pictured on the right, restringing one of the 45 guitars that were brought in for renewal.
Strings for Food events will conclude on Nov. 19 at Backstage Music in Starkville, MS. Backstage has adopted this program this year for the first time. Allen McBroom, one of the owners, is optimistic that the Starkville community will support the cause. "Starkville has a strong history of supporting philanthropic causes, and what cause could possibly be better than helping feed the hungry?". The store has put out posters around town, has local players volunteering to help with the work, and the Starkville Daily News will be covering the effort. "We're excited, and can't wait to see the total collection," McBroom said.
When the entire Strings for Food effort is complete, the iMSO members hope to set a new record, not for restringing guitars, but for helping those who need it the most.
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2010 Strings for Food Event A Huge Success |
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 In the past two years, the Independent Music Store Owners' (iMSO) annual event, Strings for Food, succeeded in collecting over 13,000 pounds of food for community food banks, and they did it in a most unusual way. iMSO member stores offered to restring guitars for customers, at no cost, in exchange for a donation of non-perishable food items. The stores donated the time and labor needed to restring the guitars, and string manufacturers, such as D'Addario, Curt Mangan, and SIT Strings, donated the supplies required for the task
"In the past two years, iMSO member stores changed more then 2,500 sets of strings and collected more then 13,011 pounds of food", according to Lisa Kirkwood, owner of Discount Music of Jacksonville.
Kirkwood, shown here with her husband and son, runs a family operated music store in Florida, and she is one of the driving forces behind the success of the Independent Music Store Owners' organization.
iMSO member stores nationwide are now gearing up for the next big event, which will happen mid-November, 2011. "The target date for this event is Saturday, November 12, all across America", said Kirkwood, noting also that a few stores will hold their local Strings for Food events one week earlier or later, due to local schedule conflicts.
The full list of participating iMSO stores can be found in the menu at the top of this page, by using the link PARTICIPATING STORES. The list of stores taking part also includes the date of their event, as well as store contact information. |
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Thursday, 06 October 2011 15:55 |
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Independent music stores across America are gearing up to host the 2011 Strings for Food event, which will be held (in most cases) on Saturday, November 12.
 In Franklin, North Carolina, Bryan Loy (shown at left), owner of Paradise Music, mused on some of the reasons that drive America's independent music store owners to adopt a philanthropic view of their role in this effort. "Those of us in the music industry are blessed beyond measure to be able to do what we love. There are many in this country who are far less fortunate than ourselves, and this is an excellent opportunity for us to give back to the communities that have given us so much."
Bryan's mindset of "giving back to the community" was echoed by John Burton of Roadhouse Music in Middlefield, Ohio.
"This year, as in past years, we are donating all the food to a local church (Middlefield United Methodist Church) that has a food pantry. This food pantry distributes food in conjunction with The Geauga Hunger Task Force, an agency in Geauga County, Ohio. The food goes directly to members of our immediate community who are in need. The largest growing number of families in need are senior citizens."
John went on to describe how his store doubles their staff for the event, to make sure those who donate food are given a great re-string for their donations.
"We up our staff from our usual 3 guitar techs, to 6 for the day. We have a few customers that volunteer to strip strings off the guitars, polish and clean, while our regular techs will restring and tune. Of course, all of the Floyd Rose equipped guitars go to Matt...... he loves them. He has a lot of experience with them, as he is also John Petrucci's guitar tech. It happens there is a break on the Dream Theatre Tour that week, so Matt will be able to give us a hand. Tim, all around great guitar tech and amplifier tech, will be doing the bulk of electric guitars. I will be doing the bulk of acoustics. Our other three volunteers prep everything for us...making it a bit more timely. We will also have at least 2 or 3 counter people to fill out repair tags for each instrument."
John described how the expansion needed to make the day successful goes beyond just extra staffing. "Our shop currently has three working guitar benches. It will be revamped for the day with five or six. Any instrument brought in that needs more than just re-stringing can be assessed and left for repair..... we discount the repair for the donations."
This strong sense of connection (and obligation) to the local community is more the rule than the exception among owners of independent music stores. Nationwide, well over 30 independent music stores have already volunteered to take part in the 2011 Strings for Food event, and that count is growing almost daily. After the event, music stores will deliver the donated food to local food pantries, just in time for the holiday season, when demand is the highest. These pantries then make the food available to our neediest neighbors.
Another deeply involved independent music store is Uptown Music, situated in Keizer, Oregon.
Owner Jim Nardi (see photo below of co-owners Jim and Sylvia Nardi) mused about the upcoming event, and about his store's commitment to the Strings for Food program.
"Our team is getting really excited for the 2011 Food for strings event! We participated last year and strung 134 guitars. Then we heard that Island Music did an awesome job with 181 re-strings. We’re kind of a competitive little bunch here, so our goal for this year’s event is 200 instruments."
 Jim continued, "We promoted the event last year through our Facebook page, an email newsletter that went out to 800 customers and in-store signage. Sent press releases to the two newspapers covering our area. The major daily paper picked up on the event and ran the story 5 times giving us a lot of coverage. I also called our contacts at the two radio stations we advertise on and they agreed to run free public service announcements about it as well."
"Last year we had 4 stringers (recruited from our teaching staff and customers) working virtually non-stop for 6 six hours, along with some occasional help from our sales team when they could. Our in-store guitar repairman was on hand to help with any quick repairs and to assist customers with instruments that needed additional work."
For many store owners, the idea of giving back to the community is more than just civic service, it's personal. Jim Nardi explained some of his background, and said "Besides our work with the local school and music education programs, the Keizer Community Food Bank is our main community cause the year round. It is made up of volunteers from seven local churches that provide food and resources to over 2000 needy families and individuals a month. I grew up in a single parent household. My mother had health issues and was unable to work, so my sisters and I grew up with food boxes and assistance from our extended family to get by. My wife and I are blessed to be in a position in our business to where we can help provide for the many that are currently in need."
All across America, store owners like Bryan, John, and Jim are using their stores and their influence to reach out and aid the needy in their communities, using their staff, their facilities, their products, and their time to provide for those in need. Strings for Food is just one of the many ways independent music store owners devote their time and talents to more than making profit and gaining market share. These store owners are vital, active, compassionate members of their local communities, and efforts such as Strings for Food may be the best reward their stores see all year. |
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Past Strings for Food Photos |
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Jeff Simon of Watermelon Music (Davis & Woodland CA)
For more then 15 years, Jeff and his staff have hosted an annual Strings for Food Event. While serving as a Board Member of iMSO, Jeff invited other members to join in on this worth while cause. During the 2009 & 2010 event, the staff of Watermelon Music changed 312 sets of strings and collected 715 pounds of food.
Chris Basile of South Jersey Music (Sewell, New Jersey)
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See more photos from Strings for Food events
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