The Helping Hand Project aims to serve the community in any way they can

Food trucks, ukuleles and excitement over the chance to win a signed 2017 UNC National Championship basketball on Friday made the third annual Bands for Hands benefit concert a success.

But the best part? 

All the money raised will go to designing and making recreational prosthetic hands for children. 

The Helping Hand Project has provided devices for 25 children since it started in the fall of 2015.

Elliot Krause, project manager of the club, works on improving relationships between different university chapters of the club in North Carolina. Krause was a member of the club at its conception as a first-year, and formerly served as the UNC chapter’s president. He said events like Bands for Hands are important because they provide funding to eliminate cost barriers for the kids. 

“We do all the fundraising ourselves, so that way we can provide these hands to children at no cost,” Krause said. “All the money that we raise from this concert will go towards paying for these devices.” 

The Bands for Hands benefit concert is hosted annually by the UNC Chapter of The Helping Hand Project. This year, the concert included performances by Left on Franklin, the Carolina Ukulele Ensemble and Shakedown Street. 

Grace Cronin, president of the Helping Hand Project, said after a few years of planning the event, most of the kinks were worked out. However, she said there was one big change in planning helped Friday's event run more smoothly. 

“This year though what really helped has been we’ve incorporated more of the Greek life,” Cronin said. “This year we have more fraternities and sororities participating with the setup, cleanup and ticket sales.” 

Members from the Phi Mu, Tri Delta, Chi Phi and Beta Theta Pi UNC Greek Organizations attended the event to show support for the club’s mission and to fill volunteer positions. 

Also in attendance was Chad Coarsey, a friend the Helping Hand Project's founder, Jeffrey Powell. Coarsey, who is getting his master's in bioengineering at Florida Atlantic University, built his own prosthetic hand two years ago for a class project. 

“I’m always supporting these kinds of groups,” said Coarsey, who flew to Chapel Hill on Friday for the event. “I think it’s important to also collaborate and share ideas of how we can make these devices better.” 

Coarsey said he was excited to see all the recipients the club has successfully provided devices for, as well as how the club has expanded to other universities since he first saw it created. He also offered his praises for performers at the benefit concert. 

For the rest of the year, Cronin said the club has a lot of goals in place to further improve their devices and continue to work on skill development.

“Not only do I, and the other members, get to practice our engineering skills and get a lot of real work experience, but it also helps families,” Cronin said. 

Besides providing free prosthetic devices to children, Krause said the club also has semester events that give families the opportunity to get to know each other. One of these meet-ups took place on Saturday morning at a park in Carrboro. 

“Our primary goal is to serve families in whatever way we can,” Krause said.

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