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    NEWS

    10 October, 2016

    Harmonikids Session for Disadvantaged and At-Risk Youth in San Antonio

    On August 13, 2016 I provided a Hohner-sponsored Harmonikids session at the SPAH (Society for the Preservation and Advancement of Harmonica) convention in San Antonio, Texas. The session was coordinated with the help of SPAH president Michael D'Eath and SPAH member Greg Jones benefitting children from humanitarian organization "SA Heals". From their website, "SA Heals is a faith-based non-profit with a mission to restore health and wholeness on San Antonio's Eastside" fighting "abuse, disease, hunger and poverty - one child, one school, one neighborhood at a time." Their mission "focuses on the children with a holistic approach to educate, encourage and empower them."

    06 September, 2016

    Harmonikids Hohner-Sponsored Session For Troubled Youth In Detention

    On July 26, 2016 I returned to provide a Hohner sponsored Harmonikids session to the Ferris detention facility in Wilmington Delaware; a full-security juvenile facility for boys whose mission is to “provide educational and therapeutic services to adjudicated youth in a safe, staff-secure and gender sensitive environment preparing them for successful re-entry into the community.” Over the years Harmonikids' ongoing programs to assist the youth at Ferris have become among my personal favorites because the participants (many of whom have been neglected, abandoned, and/or abused in their young lives) receive much-needed self esteem and confidence from the experience. In addition, I spent much of my adolescent years just a few miles from the detention facility and under different circumstances I could have easily ended up there myself.

    02 June, 2016

    Hohner Sponsors Gary Allegretto's Harmonikids Visit to a School for Severely Disabled Youth

    Harmonikids returns to teach a Classroom of Students with Formidable Life Challenges to Play Harmonica

    On June 2nd through the sponsorship of Hohner, I returned to New Castle County's Vocational Tech (NCCVT) school for "severely disabled" youth in Wilmington, DE. What was accomplished that day is again among Harmonikids' proudest achievements. Remarkably, all of the students present found a path to make music in spite of formidable challenges. Among them, a teen with cerebral palsy and severe cognitive difficulties literally rose up from his daily challenges to participate - inspired by hearing and learning the Blues on a new Hohner harmonica... and a song by Elvis. As Harmonikids programs have proven for decades, learning to play music on a harmonica can lead youth across daunting boundaries.

    23 May, 2016

    Harmonikids Session at an Emergency Shelter for Children in Reno, Nevada

    On March 20, 2016 I provided a Hohner-sponsored Harmonikids session to youth at "Kids Kottage", Washoe County Child Advocacy Center in Reno, NV. Kids Kottage is an emergency shelter for children who have been removed from their home due to abuse or neglect. The intention of the facility is to provide kids with a positive home environment where they can play, learn and have a sense of safety and normality. Harmonikids provides youth such as these a healthy and positive form of creative expression and emotional release in this crucial time in their lives.

    29 February, 2016

    Harmonikids Session with Troubled Teens in Salt Lake City, UT

    On February 27,2016 I brought my Hohner-sponsored Harmonikids session to the Salt Lake Valley Detention Center (SLVDC), In Salt Lake City Utah. SLVDC is a full-security facility designed to rehabilitate troubled youth detained by court order. Such facilities have become among my favorite to provide Harmonikids humanitarian services. Sadly, most of these teens are there ultimately as a result of abandonment, neglect, abuse, or violent childhood environments. Their confidence and self-esteem are likely shaken if not shattered – leaving them feeling broken, hopeless, and trapped.