Metallica's All Within My Hands charity has taken on yet another charitable action by launching the Metallica Scholars Initiative, which will donate over one million dollars spread between 10 community colleges across the country in order to financially assist approximately 1,000 students entering the United States workforce.
The band partnered with Washington, D.C.'s American Organization Of Community Colleges on the project. The AACC represents 1,103 schools across the country and, through a competitive application process, helped choose students to become the first wave of Metallica Scholars who will receive help in pursuing an education so they can reinvest in their communities. The thrashers specifically chose the cities and towns affected so they could give back to areas that have supported them on recent U.S. tours and use their influence to "elevate the importance of career and technical education."
All Within My Hands executive director Dr. Edward Frank says of the initiative, "While the foundation continues our support for the fight against hunger and emergency community aid, we are now expanding our mission to include support for career and technical education... The foundation and the band are thrilled by the quality of proposals we received from these colleges, and are excited to do our part to help educate students so that they have the skills and training necessary to find meaningful and well-paying jobs in their communities."
Drummer Lars Ulrich chimed in as well, stating "All of us in the band feel fortunate that music has provided us the opportunity to be successful doing something we are passionate about. We want to share our success with others so that they can find a job where they can do the same." See below for a full list of schools benefiting from the program.
Central Piedmont Community College - Charlotte, North Carolina
Clackamas Community College - Oregon City, Oregon
College of Lake County - Grayslake, Illinois
Community College of Baltimore County - Baltimore, Maryland
Gateway Technical College - Kenosha, Wisconsin
Grand Rapids Community College - Grand Rapids, Michigan
Lone Star College - The Woodlands, Texas
North Idaho College - Coeur d'Alene, Idaho
Spokane Community College - Spokane, Washington
Wichita State University Campus of Applied Sciences and Technology - Wichita, Kansas
