16-Year-Old Creates Nonprofit to Provide Free Music to Soldiers

For soldiers stationed overseas, homesickness can be tough. Luckily, they've got some tunes to keep them company - courtesy of a 16-year-old girl's nonprofit, Tunes 4 the Troops.

By Kathryn Hawkins. Posted on June 05 2008

When you’re far from your friends and family, in a strange and unfamiliar land, what can you count on for comfort? For most of us, the answer comes down to our favorite bands. And for the thousands of U.S. Troops stationed overseas, who are cut off from the rest of the world, and constantly faced with dangers like land mines and enemy fire, that’s especially true.

Unfortunately, most soldiers don’t have access to iPods or CD collections in remote military bases. Often, entire units are forced to share just a few CDs between them – and as anyone who’s been on a road trip knows, even the greatest tunes get old after the ten thousandth spin.

Luckily, an enterprising teen, 16-year-old Kaylee Marie Radzyminski, came up with a way to help the soldiers get their much-needed dose of music. After attending a Q-and-A session to listen to a group of returning soldiers and learning that, after their families, one of the things they missed most from home was entertainment, she went home and gathered up her own CD collection to ship it off to soldiers overseas.

Soon, her personal project turned into a larger movement: She created a national nonprofit group, Tunes 4 the Troops. In the three years since starting the organization, Radzyminski and her fellow volunteers have delivered more than 200,000 CDs and DVDs to soldiers around the world.

“It first started with my collection, then my friends chipped in with their music and movies, and it just spread and spread through my community—and now, nationwide,” she told CNN.

“My mission is not about supporting or opposing the war, it’s about supporting the troops,” she said. “They sacrifice so much for us, why can’t I do a little bit to give back to them?

Filed under: Heroes, Non-Profits,

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