Free Guitars 4 Kids aims to change young lives through self-expression

ST. LOUIS PARK, Minn. — Fifteen-year-old Obadiah Gamble's fingers are glued to the guitar.

"If I'm not playing it, I'm listening to it or thinking about it," Gamble said.

He hasn't been playing too long, just a few years, but he makes up for lost time now.

"I started taking it seriously when I got that guitar," Gamble said.

The guitar was given to him by a nonprofit called Free Guitars 4 Kids (FG4K). It was handed to him at an Amy Grant concert — by Amy Grant herself.

"I think there are thousands, or millions of kids out there like Obadiah," said Terry Esau, FG4K co-founder.

Esau believes he can change lives with a six-string, and specifically the lives of kids.

"I know that a guitar can change a kid's life because it changed mine," Esau said.

This year, Esau hopes to reach more kids than ever with FG4K's new "Break Free" campaign. It features the iconic Queen song.

"I mean it's a great song for us. Maybe you're breaking free from your cellphone, you're breaking down your emotions and your feelings," Esau said.

The animated video is created by Minneapolis-based Preston Spire and depicts the power of music, and the escape and solace it brings.  

"The main goal of our campaign was to just get more eyes on this brand, more guitars for kids," said Charlie Tournet, Preston Spire's creative director.

Since its start, FG4K has given away about 2,500 guitars to kids in underserved communities across the country.

"We can't do that without funding partners to help us do it," Esau said.

It can cost more than $100 to give a guitar, but Esau believes its impacts are priceless.

"Once they get that guitar, now they have a vehicle for self-expression," Esau said. "Instead of looking at a screen and consuming, they now are holding a guitar and creating."

Now with more eyes on the mission, there's potential to reach more kids like Gamble.

"There are a lot of jobs and professions in the world where you have a limit of what you can do," Gamble said. "And in music, there's no limit."

That limitlessness also inspires Esau.

"I think the capacity of that thing [pointing at guitar] is far great than we understand," Esau said. "That's why we believe that every kid that wants to make music, should have a guitar in their hands."

While FG4K is a newer nonprofit, its sister organization, Free Bikes 4 Kids, has been around the Twin Cities and country for 15 years. Both share the same concept: getting guitars and bikes into the hands of children can transform lives.

More information on the programs and how to donate can be found on their website.