Central Alberta musicians, artists & entrepreneurs
We are GuitarZ For KidZ, dedicated to getting musical instruments into the hands of youngsters and families that want to pursue music, but because of circumstance are unable. People making music is our passion and we want to help make that happen. Finding new homes for gently used instruments runs a very close second..
GuitarZ For KidZ Central Alberta
Donate A Guitar/Instrument & Change A Life!
About Us
David Gilmore has founded GuitarZ For KidZ Central Alberta in order to get used instruments into the hands of local youth and families in need.
Donate
We are accepting guitars and other hand held instruments on an ongoing basis. We will take any stringed instrument in any condition. We will take it and recondition where we can or put it to use in our Guitar Art Program. We will be pleased to accept financial contributions as well.
Contact Us
We are happy to meet friends with the same passion for helping. We have different programs for local volunteers and contributors.
Our History
About Christmas time 2017 David & Don were working together in David Gilmore’s luthier shop here in Red Deer. Don was a “build your own guitar” student and they were working on the final stages of Don’s build. David mentioned a friend of his, Dan Walsh had teamed up with Bob Egan (formerly of Blue Rodeo) and they created a program to refurbish used guitars. The plan was to get them in the hands of youth and families in Cambridge, Ontario who, for varied and personal reasons, could not get a new instrument. That’s how Guitars For Kids was born. As discussions progressed David expressed a desire to do the same in Red Deer. After about a half a nano second of arm twisting Don agreed to help get it going. The other half nano second later the scheme was afoot. Working on the soft hearts of some friends and fellow musicians a five person committee was struck.
We are now into 6+ years with in the range of 400 instruments refurbished, with many of those placed in the hands of future musicians and artists, but more importantly, into the hands of people who need music in their lives. Privacy laws and our own policy prevents us from sharing the multitude of amazing success stories we have to date, but we can express a heartfelt thank you to our many donors and supporters for making the world of so many souls a better place.
In 2020 we entered into a partnership agreement with the Red Deer Public Library to loan guitars and ukuleles through the three branches of the Library. It is a resounding success, in spite of the pandemic. But stay tuned – we have more exciting news coming down the pipe, very soon we hope!
The Idea
In this short video clip, Bob Egan explains why he founded Guitars For Kids. Dave Gilmore brought this idea to several local musicians and other interested people and together we have formed Guitarz For Kidz Central Alberta.
Now we come to you our friends and audience for help to bring this to fruition.
“We collect and recondition used instruments and get them into the hands of
local youth and families”
How Can You Help?
We are looking for used guitars (acoustic, electric, bass), ukuleles, mandolins, banjos, amplifiers, miscellaneous equipment such as capos, amps, cords, tuners – whatever hand held instrument you have that you don’t need or use any more. We will put them to good use, one way or another!