All Within My Hands is a non profit foundation founded by none other than the legendary Bay Area Metal legends Metallica. Since the formation of the foundation in 2017, millions have been raised for great causes such as helping to feed the hungry worldwide, and disaster relief. Renee Richardson took the time to talk with Metal Express Radio about All Within My Hands annual Month Of Giving, how the foundation has bought Metallica fans together, and more. Check out the chat below and check out how you can get involved with their Month Of Giving here.
Metal Express Radio: What can you tell everyone about the All Within My Hands Foundation?
Renee Richardson: All Within My Hands was created in 2017 by the members and management of Metallica. The Foundation is a nonprofit 501(c)(3), and we are dedicated to creating sustainable communities through workforce education, the fight against hunger, and other critical local services. The Foundation has made $5.9 million in grants to support trade education through its Metallica Scholars Initiative. As a matter of fact, we have a program in Lowell at Middlesex Community College! We’ve donated back over #2.5M to feed people and over $3M in disaster relief funding.
MER: How did you get involved with Metallica and All Within My Hands?
Richardson: I was a radio DJ in San Francisco for many years, I always loved the band and had some interactions with their management team. After a 30-year radio career (I was fired from radio, a familiar story, and it’s sad but true…yes, that was intentional, lol), I moved into the nonprofit sector. I was the Development Director for Blue Bear School of Music, the original school of rock! It was an incredible time; I was learning the ins and outs of supporting a non-profit at the same time that Metallica was forming their Foundation. As luck would have it, they needed someone with my experience to help with the day-to-day of All Within My Hands, and all the pieces came together. Today I am Director of Philanthropy, and it is 100% the most gratifying work of my life.
MER: How did the Month Of Giving for the foundation come about?
Richardson: The band had created a Day of Service shortly after officially forming the Foundation. It was a way to support local food banks by encouraging fans to volunteer while also publically showing their commitment to those with food insecurities. We started with 1,000 fans supporting 20 food banks around the US, and one year later, we doubled our impact when 3,000 Metallica fans volunteered at 51 food banks in 2019. We were making plans for Day of Service 2020 when Covid happened, which changed our plans… everyone’s plans… everyone’s lives. The immediate pivot for us was to figure out how we could best help those thousands of folks standing in line at food banks now that the whole system was changing and there was an increased need. That’s when #MetallicaMondays came to be! For 23 weeks, we encouraged donations to support various organizations helping those in crisis due to the pandemic. These free concerts from Metallica’s archives were streamed on Youtube every Monday evening during lockdown. It was not only a way to connect when we couldn’t do so in person; it was our way of helping with the 40% increase in people seeking assistance due to food insecurities. From there, we decided in place of Day of Service, which was usually in April/May we would support a whole month and multiple nonprofit organizations in the process. Hard to believe we are in our fourth year!
MER: Has there been anything particular from previous Month’s Of Giving that you remember?
Richardson: Month of Giving 2022 was probably our most ambitious. The war on Ukraine had just begun, and we saw how quickly our friends at World Central Kitchen mobilized to feed people who had to flee their country and leave their homes. The humanitarian crisis is overwhelming, still. We decided to extend Month of Giving, so we started immediately to raise money to support WCK’s #ChefsForUkraine with a pledge that AWMH would match all donations in an effort to get $1M to WCK. And we did it!
MER: Metallica has played multiple shows with all proceeds going towards All Within My Hands, do you see those continuing each year?
Richardson: Our Helping Hands Concert & Auction series seems to be on an every-other-year cadence: 2018 at the Masonic in SF, 2020 we streamed live from HQ, and 2022 from the Microsoft Theatre in Los Angeles… no promises, but I would like to see that continue… at minimum.
MER: How has it been seeing Metallica fans from around the world come together for this year after year?
Richardson: The fans are unbelievable!! Not only in their everyday support for AWMH via social channels but as Fifth Members, when the Local Chapters rally around a cause, they are fierce! We really saw an uptick in participation around World Central Kitchen in 2022. In talking to your local chapter head Don, with Masster of Puppets, he took the time to share with us that having a specific cause to point to was really helpful in messaging around what we were trying to achieve. To see 45 different chapters from all around the world participate with enthusiasm this year is incredible. And we are all supporting the Farmlink Project this year – they are a remarkable organization connecting farms with surplus to food banks. You can learn about what they do here: https://www.farmlinkproject.org. At last check, the competition has raised over $20K, and that is being matched by our friends at Carhartt, which is really cool! All donations through the competition are being matched so your dollars are doubled if you donate, making May a great time to give!
MER: Fans at one point could sign up to volunteer at local food pantries for the Month Of Giving, do you see that opportunity returning?
Richardson: Correct, that was our Day of Service. We really want to bring that event back, TBD!
MER: Do you feel this foundation have bought Metallica fans closer together?
Richardson: I like to think so. We just saw one of the clubs, Virginia Fuel, celebrate its 25th anniversary, and so many other clubs sent messages to wish them well. I’d like to think the addition of the Foundation (the work that we do) gives folks a little something to rally around besides the music – although the music right now is SO FLIPPING GOOD. 72 Seasons fits beautifully into the Metallica oevre if you ask me.
MER: What are your hopes for the foundations future?
Richardson: Longevity. I’d like to see us grow and continue to support those in need thoughtfully and measuredly… for a really, really long time.
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