This year, Leawood resident Gabriel Decker is ending high school on a high note.
A longtime musician himself, Decker said he wants other kids to have the chance to play music — even if they don’t have access to instruments, which have become increasingly expensive.
So Decker, a senior at Blue Valley North, is spending his last year in high school collecting musical instruments for children in the community who cannot afford them.
Decker came up with the idea last year
Decker said his idea for the project came from speaking with people who were involved with foster care programs in the community, and finding out that many of those children loved music. At the same time, Decker said, he found there were plenty of people who had musical instruments at home and didn’t use them for various reasons.
“Just like in any circumstance, if you’re struggling to get other things, musical instruments are going to be very, very hard to get access to,” he said. “There are just a lot of people with instruments that don’t have any use for them, and a lot of people that do have use for them and can’t afford them.”
So he began asking around at school for instruments people could donate. Decker posted about his project on social media and put up fliers at local music stores.
Right away, five instruments were donated within a week. He’s had some help from his fellow members of Blue Valley North’s Music National Honor Society, and his father has also helped fix up some older donated instruments that have needed minor repairs.
Decker plans to start college next year, with plans to study music technology and computer science. He’s unsure where he’s going to college yet. But he said he hopes the project can continue on, even if that means someone else potentially taking it over.
“I hope that I can just keep it running,” he said. “And I hope that it gets more word out and that it finds more people that have instruments, and finds more people that need instruments especially.”
Decker has collected 20 instruments so far
Decker said a wide range of instruments have been donated, from keyboards and guitars to flutes and trumpets. That range has grown beyond just instruments too, with things like sheet music, folding stands and music books.
All donations go to local nonprofits that support children in foster care. Some instruments go to children directly, while others are put to use in music therapy sessions and day treatment programs.
“It’s definitely grown in terms of being a community-wide thing,” he said. “It started as just a project I’m doing at school, and it has definitely expanded its radius in the community.”
Decker himself is a lifelong musician
Decker started his own musical journey at age 4 with the piano, before moving on to several other instruments. Today, he plays the bass, piano and the drums, in addition to writing his own music.
Music is something Decker shares with his family as well, as both of his parents played instruments at a young age too.
With music being central to his own childhood, Decker said he knows it plays a big part in his day-to-day happiness. So he knows what it can do for other children — and that’s something he wants to help contribute to.
“There’s a community involved with playing an instrument,” he said. “There’s also the self-expression aspect to it, which is just playing on your own and finding an outlet for your emotions and your creative expression. Those are both very important, especially for kids and teenagers.”
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