Students at Luella Elementary School got a nice surprise recently from a local organization dedicated to music education.

  A delivery truck pulled up in front of the school March 25 and dozens of guitars were unloaded and distributed to excited students. These gifts will help kick-start the guitar program at the school.

  The event was the brainchild of Henry for Music, a local nonprofit that provides lessons and instruments to students so they can have the opportunity to participate in band or orchestra at their local schools. More than 200 students have been served since 2015.

  According to Jerry Hesselink, founder of Henry for Music, the organization received assistance from Henry County Board of Education member Makenzie McDaniel in finding an elementary school that is equipped to give guitar lessons, and Luella Elementary was identified.

  “We really want to build that foundation at the elementary level,” Luella Elementary principal Carla Montgomery said on the day of the event. “We are a cluster of schools, and so by building our program at an early age in elementary, it just helps our middle schoolers and our high schoolers because they develop that love for it and want to continue when they move on to middle and high school.”

  Henry for Music is funded by grants and donations from local businesses and other organizations and individuals. The half-sized guitars, which Hesselink said are the perfect size for elementary students, were provided by Guitars 4 Gifts, another nonprofit that specializes in giving guitars to students as their first musical instrument. These organizations reportedly work mostly with Title I schools to ensure that every student has access to an education that includes music.

  Lessons in such instruments as violin and cello have been provided tuition-free by Henry for Music for the past few years. The primary location before the COVID-19 pandemic was the music room at Fairview Recreation Center, but lessons have continued in a virtual format since then.

  A good-sized inventory of instruments has been accumulated by the organization thanks to donations from individuals locally. Two music stores, McDonough Music and TLS Music Store in Stockbridge, are identified on the Henry for Music website as drop-off locations for donated instruments.

  For more information on Henry for Music, visit henryformusic.org.