Country music superstar Kenny Chesney is changing his tune to help victims of the Boston Marathon bombings.
Chesney, 45, has launched the Spread The Love Fund with Boston Medical Center to help pay for prosthetics and associated physical therapy costs for those who lost limbs in the tragedy.
“It’s hard to imagine a world where taking your children to school, going to the movies or witnessing something as iconic as the Boston Marathon is a dangerous thing to do,” Chesney said in a statement. “I want to give back to the ones who need it, but also to heal all of us a little bit.”
Chesney has made an undisclosed donation, and will donate proceeds from downloaded single sales of his song “Spread The Love” to the eponymous fund. The track appears on the singer’s 14th studio album, “Life on a Rock,” which was released yesterday.
The country icon plays two shows at Gillette Stadium in August.
Mike Brophey, program director for Hub country music station 102.5 WKLB-FM, said Chesney reached out to station officials in the bombing aftermath to learn how to best aid victims.
“Like everyone else, he was absolutely shocked about what happened and simply wanted to find a way he could help as quickly as possible,” Brophey said.
While the fund is meant for victims treated at BMC, aid could be given to other amputee victims treated at local hospitals based on how much is raised, said Norman Stein, BMC’s vice president of development. BMC has treated five bombing amputee patients.
The One Fund Boston, the primary relief fund for bombing victims and families, has raised nearly $27 million to date.
“If we’re a conduit to get resources into the hands of families, we’re happy to do it,” Stein said. “We also want to make sure we pay attention to the expertise and wisdom of One Fund Boston in doing whatever we do.”
Donations to the Spread The Love Fund can be made online by visiting www.bmc.org/kenny.
No comments:
Post a Comment