photo by: Josie Heimsoth/Journal-World

Josh Millstein, co-owner of Liberty Hall, and Tom Alexios, director of outreach programs for the Duke Ellington Family, are pictured on Tuesday, May 12, 2026.

A Lawrence initiative has collected nearly 50 donated instruments over the last two months, but organizers hope to double that before distributing them to students next school year.

This is a joint effort between Meyer Music Stores of the Kansas City area, the Duke Ellington Legacy – a jazz ensemble dedicated to performing and keeping the music of Duke Ellington alive – and Liberty Hall.

The Band of Angels program – which is a nonprofit partnership between WDAF-TV Fox 4 and Meyer Music to collect, refurbish and distribute musical instruments to children in need – inspired Lawrence’s effort.

All of the donated instruments will be restored to playing condition for students or used for parts to repair other instruments. They will also be used for another Meyer Music Stores’ program, “Art That Blows,” where local artists take instrument parts to create art pieces.

photo by: Josie Heimsoth/Journal-World

A Lawrence initiative is collecting donated instruments to give to local students. An instrument is pictured on Tuesday, May 12, 2026.

The program launched in March, and Tom Alexios, director of outreach programs for the Duke Ellington Family, said the positive response from the community had helped the team gather almost 50 instruments.

Those instruments include a couple cornets, an alto saxophone, two French horns, two guitars, five trumpets, seven clarinets, four violins, six flutes and more.

Alexios and Josh Millstein, co-owner of Liberty Hall, have decided to try doubling the number of donated instruments over the summer, so more instruments can get in students’ hands in the 2026-2027 school year.

“Josh and I made the executive decision last week that we didn’t want to give out instruments now, have them sit for the summer without the kids working with an educator,” Alexios said. “So our decision is to … let (the public) know we’re on a campaign between now and mid-August.”

The goal is to have at least 50 refurbished instruments to give to students. Even though the team has acquired almost that number of donated instruments, not all of them will actually be able to be fixed up for students.

“That’s our ambitious goal,” Alexios said. ” … I think it’s definitely within our reach.”

There have been early conversations with Woodlawn Elementary School about potentially donating an entire drum set and some guitars they acquired, but a lot of those conversations are still yet to be had with other schools.

photo by: Josie Heimsoth/Journal-World

A donated drum set is pictured on Tuesday, May 12, 2026.

“I didn’t formally talk to some of the educators here at schools because we had no idea what to tell them we were going to have because we had no idea what response we were going to get from the community,” Alexios said, but he’s excited to begin those conversations in the next few months.

Alexios said after students have had some time with their instruments, he hopes they will get to play for seniors at independent and assisted living facilities in town, adding that there are many benefits to music therapy.

“We’re teaching the kids how to have sensitivity and respect for their elders because they are going to be our future,” Alexios said. “And the fact they’re getting a chance to practice and perform in front of others in an informal setting to hone their skills.”

Millstein said the instrument drive saw strong support when it first launched, but donations have slowed in recent weeks.

“We had a great initial response,” Millstein said. “We were filling up (a) room and everything, and it had started to trickle down a little bit. We were thinking that to get to our goal, it would be great to have another little bump.”

People can drop off donated instruments at the Liberty Hall Ticket Office, 644 Massachusetts St., from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Wednesdays and Thursdays and 1 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.

photo by: Josie Heimsoth/Journal-World

A donated instrument is pictured on Tuesday, May 12, 2026.