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By the time Al Roker's trucks were empty, violins, keyboards, paints, crayons and guitars were stacked shoulder-high in the lobby of the Community School of the Arts.
Volunteers used boxes of Crayola supplies as doorstops as hundreds struggled to fit donated equipment into the uptown office.
The popular “Today” show weatherman brought $369,000 in supplies to the nonprofit, which offers visual and performing arts classes, as part of the show's annual Lend a Hand series. The event crowded Spirit Square with policemen, preschool violinists and sign-toting fans as the muggy day broke.
The “Today” show was profiling the school's outreach program, which provides free arts instruction to Charlotte children who can't afford it.
The donations from the Gibson guitar company, Crayola, Yamaha, Samsung and several other companies will help the nonprofit continue in an economy that has hurt many area charities.
“This is transformational for us,” Executive Director Andy Stevenson said. “They're donating instruments that we need and could never afford.”
The event was slated to be shown live, but ended up being taped to keep from breaking the somber tone of the show's Michael Jackson coverage. It will be shown Monday on “Today,” which is broadcast on the Observer's news partner, WCNC-TV.
This is the eighth year the series has traveled across the country to help small local charities. Roker kicked off his trip in Los Angeles on Monday and stopped at charities in Portland, Ore., Galveston, Texas, and Little Rock, Ark., before getting to Charlotte.
In between live weather reports, where Roker delivered his trademark “Here's what's happening in your neck of the woods,” the NBC team filmed the nearly 200 attendees helping to unload the art supplies from three large Penske moving trucks.
The arts school also got a red-ribboned Volkswagen Routan full of guitars, and the Charlotte Bobcats donated $20,000 in Lowe's Home Improvement gift cards, offered to host 300 of its students at a game this season and presented Roker with a personalized No. 1 jersey.
During the segment, violin campers, some as young as 4, got the chance to perform on air. Wearing matching Community School of the Arts T-shirts, they played two songs, including “Twinkle twinkle, little star.”
“I felt really excited and proud of myself for being an experienced violin player,” said rising fourth-grader Louisa Cacchione. “We got to be on TV with the whole country.”
“It was one of the best days ever,” rising third-grader Kendall Kelly added.
But even Roker got upstaged by a celebrity more popular in the younger generation.
California singer-songwriter Colbie Caillet sang her hit song “Bubbly” with members of the First Baptist Church West after-school program choir.
“I've been involved with music since I was a little girl,” said Caillet, 22. She signed autographs and took pictures with fans for a half-hour after the show ended. “Anything that they can do to show their creative side is a good thing.”
