GH’s Wally Kurth: Playing For A Cause
“Every time we do a concert 80 percent goes to a charity in that town and 20 percent goes to the Kurth & Taylor Foundation,”Kurth explains.”At the end of the year we make different donations to different charities around the world.”The foundation has donated money to organizations like the Mother-Child Pediatric HIV Program, and the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Endowment.”Last year we raised money for a new children’s wing at the Duke Children’s Hospital. It has to go directly to children, that is the only requirement — something like after-school care, not research. We usually give about $10,000 a year, and 99 cents out of every dollar we raise goes to these kids.”
Kurth explains that he was motivated to start the foundation when the Ryan White Foundation, which he had done a lot of work with, closed down. But he’s found that running a charity can be a daunting task.”You have to keep making money if you want to keep it going, and then there are days where you don’t want to do a concert,”he admits.”And our concerts are not easy to do. You have to have a corporate sponsor. It is an expensive ticket but we are trying to think of new ways to make more money for the foundation. We just want to be able to sing our music and do it.”
Kurth asserts that in the end it’s all worth it.”We visit hospitals wherever we go, so seeing the kids and that the money is actually getting used for something good is the rewarding part,”he beams.”I am lucky enough to have very happy and healthy children, but not everyone is lucky. I thank God that my kids are doing great and I will see what I can do to help out other families.”
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