By Christine Barcia
Staff Writer
The Asbury Park Music Foundation is on a mission to keep music and the Monmouth County seaside city alive for generations to come.
The nonprofit organization, which was founded in 2012, supports a youth initiative, Music Saved My Life, which was was created out of the need for a music program at Hope Academy Charter School, a K-8 public charter school in downtown Asbury Park.
To support the under-served pupils of the school who are interested in music, the Asbury Park Music Foundation (APMF) started an instrument donation program.
“This is a good approach to fundraising and to support the APMF’s initiatives and youth programming,” said Matthew Hockenjos, executive director of the APMF and a 2009 graduate of Freehold High School, Freehold Borough.
Through Charitybuzz, an online auction website that benefits charities, the APMF has been able to support music programs in Asbury Park.
Recently, Max Weinberg, the drummer for Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band, reached out to the APMF to do his part in supporting the instrument donation program, according to Hockenjos.
“My son, Jay, and I were delighted to donate drums and equipment used by both of us,” Weinberg told Greater Media Newspapers. “The foundation does an incredible job with their efforts in music education — an endeavor that is more important than ever in this age of school cutbacks and, in some cases, the elimination of music and arts programs.
“Fortunately, Matt Hockenjos and his colleagues have tirelessly worked to pick up the slack and created a program of music education for aspiring young musicians who might not otherwise have had the opportunity to experience the joys of music,” Weinberg said.
The Max Weinberg drum kit sold for $5,750 “to a huge fan in Memphis,” according to Hockenjos, who said, “when something like this comes along, we can buy 10 drum sets.”