The entertainment industry continues its ramp-up of COVID-19 relief with the latest announcement from the heavy metal band Metallica and its U.S.-based charity All Within My Hands for a “Month of Giving” initiative.
The foundation’s leaders were inspired by the recent #GivingTuesdayNow campaign, according to an announcement from the foundation. This element of the foundation’s work will support Feeding America, Crew Nation, USBG National Charity Foundation and DirectRelief and run through the month of May.
Each week the foundation will highlight a different organization “we are supporting through our grants for COVID-19 relief,” and share with fans what these organizations do and how they can chip in. Metallica will donate proceeds from select merchandise to each organization. The band is also streaming concerts at #MetallicaMondays streaming concerts.
The foundation’s aim is to assist and enrich the lives of members of the communities who have supported the band for years as well as encourage participation from fans and friends. All funds raised will be donated to a cross-section of national and local charities. The band underwrites the charity and all donations to the foundation go back out the door at 100 percent, according to an announcement from the organization.
Since its launch in 2016, the band’s San Rafael, Calif.-based foundation, which reported assets of $3.2 million on its most recent Form 990, has also supported the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) on a program called Metallica Scholars.
Metallica Scholars is a workforce education initiative that provides direct support to community colleges to enhance career and technical education programs. The programs provide skills and services to students who are looking to enter a traditional trade or other applied learning program. In 2018, 10 colleges from across the country received $100,000 to support more than 1,000 students training to enter the American workforce. It was expanded to 15 schools during 2019.
The Metallica Scholars awards were selected via a competitive application process and are designed to provide support of relevant job skill training for community college students, reinvest in communities that supported Metallica during its recent United States tours, and leverage the influence of Metallica to elevate the importance of career and technical education.
