Less than a month after an article was published in The Sentinel-Record requesting guitars and equipment for veterans, seven guitars, cases, and guitar equipment including instruction booklets, tuners, microphone, amplifiers, and stands were delivered to the Central Arkansas Veterans Healthcare System Volunteer Services.
Presenting the guitars were United States Daughters of 1812 State President Kay Tatum and U.S.D. 1812 VAVS National Representative Sheila Beatty-Krout to Michael R. Dobbs, VAVS chief.
On hand to inspect each guitar was Al Deininger, one of the volunteer guitar instructors at the Eugene Towbin VA Medical Center in North Little Rock and a guitar expert.
"Dobbs had informed the VAVS representatives that many of our most seriously emotionally and physically injured veterans are interested in some type of musical therapy to facilitate conventional therapies offered at the VA. Veterans are interested and can learn the basics of playing a guitar. Learning to play the guitar brings the therapeutic power of music into a veteran's life, giving many veterans a new approach to care. Veterans are finding learning to play the guitar greatly improves their concentration, memory and quality of life," a news release said.
Deininger, along with instructors Steve Raley and Naaman Freifeld, have been assisting veterans to learn to play guitar at the North Little Rock VA every Wednesday before the coronavirus pandemic. Now alternative virtual platforms are being used to continue teaching veterans.
Deininger told of one of his students, a veteran suffering from PTSD, whose young grandchild was afraid of him. In addition to PTSD improvement, his playing the guitar helped his grandchild to enjoy and trust him helping to heal the relationship between the two, the release said.
The United States Daughters of 1812 created the Arkansas Guitar Project for obtaining the needed guitars and equipment. Text Beatty-Krout at 501-922-7488 or email her at [email protected] for more information.
