Charlotte, N.C. ? A project sparked by North Carolina-bred singer Charlie Daniels has collected thousands of dollars in donated musical instruments for troops in Iraq.

Daniels donated one of his own instruments to “Operation Heartstrings” earlier this year when he learned that soldiers didn’t have guitars for church services. He asked guitar manufacturers to do the same.

Gibson Guitar, one of the nation’s top instrument makers, surprised the Wilmington native by offering 100 guitars worth $35,000 and thousands of dollars worth of accessories.

Daniels, 69, and his band learned of the need while touring the Middle East doing shows for soldiers.

“We found that many of them played musical instruments of one kind or another and they wanted to sit in with the band. But they didn’t have enough instruments to go around,” he said.