- March 3, 2025
Kids Rock the Nation, a local nonprofit that distributes guitars to kids, has been honored with the Statewide Guardian ad Litem Program's 7th Judicial Circuit Community Advocate of the Year award for 2013.
"They've donated music lessons, instruments, amplifiers," Flagler County Guardian ad Litem Supervisor Jody Alvarez said. "It gives these children an opportunity to have access to something they wouldn't have access to otherwise." Nonprofits from Volusia, Flagler, Puntam and St. Johns counties were considered for the award.
Local jazz musician Anthony Wild created Kids Rock the Nation about four years ago to give back to the community after his struggle with cancer.
“We want kids to realize that you find a goal in life, and just keep going for it and going for it,” he said. “That if they dedicate themselves to something, they can do whatever they want in life."
The organization is funded through donations and gives out a guitar every week and has handed out about 100 so far, Wild said. Some have gone to children in the Guardian ad Litem Program who have been removed from their homes and placed in foster care.
Each guitar, with a case and equipment, costs about $165. Yancey Music Center in Ormond Beach and Mason Music in Flagler Beach sometimes donate guitars, and Kids Rock the Nation pays for students to take a certain number of guitar lessons at the shops so they can learn their way around the strings.
“It’s cool for them, so it’s easy to get them into wanting to play,” Wild said. “We’re trying to give kids something positive to do with their lives.”
To learn more about Kids Rock the Nation, or to donate or apply for a guitar, visit http://kidsrockthenation.com.
