Metallica is doing more than filling stadiums these days. The band is helping NH’s community college students gear up for careers in the skilled trades. Through the Metallica Scholars Initiative, a national workforce-education effort funded by the band’s All Within My Hands Foundation, the Community College System of NH (CCSNH) received a $50,000 grant in November, the second consecutive grant bringing the total funds awarded to $125,000.
The scholarships are administered, along with dozens of other funds, by the Foundation for NH Community Colleges, the statewide charitable arm that ensures resources flow directly to students who need them most.
“We’re one foundation serving seven community colleges,” says Tim Allison, executive director of the foundation. “We act as the charitable arm for all of them. Compared to other states where each campus has its own foundation, we’re scrappy in New Hampshire, but effective. We’re a $10 million foundation with a variety of scholarship funds built over the years.”
Allison says the Metallica Scholars partnership has been especially meaningful. “We were the sixth cohort of states that came on board last year. This is our second year of funding, and we’re grateful to receive it again,” he says.
The grant provides targeted, practical help. “The scholarships cover a range of needs students have across the trades including tools, books, uniforms, licensure fees,” Allison explains. “Eighty-two students received between $100 and $1,300.” Students in welding, aviation technology, massage therapy, culinary arts, and other high-demand fields rely on this type of support.
CCSNH leaders emphasize that these programs fuel both opportunity and the state’s economy. “Skilled trades programs offer exceptional opportunities for students to enter and advance in fields that are vital to our economy,” says Shannon Reid, CCSNH’s director of government affairs and communications.
The impact for students is immediate. “This support has made a significant impact on my ability to buy my next semester’s books,” says Anthony DeBlois, a Lakes Region Community College Metallica scholarship recipient (pictured). “I am honored to be chosen by a program backed by such a legendary band.”
Allison also says the Metallica partnership helps elevate the trades as well-paying, respected career paths. “People are thinking about the trades as well-compensated professions. We’re grateful for that rising tide of awareness,” he says. For more information, visit givenhcc.org.
