2 Albany Boys Play Music for Food Bank at Plaza

They may be small in stature, but they're big at heart.

Jared and Caleb Williams, age 12 and 10 respectively, had been giving a portion of their allowance – via a check – to the Alameda County Community Food Bank during the holidays but decided they wanted do more this past season.

So on Dec. 16, Jared, a seventh grader at Albany Middle School who plays clarinet, and Caleb, a fifth grader at Cornell Elementary School who plays trumpet, made the block-long hop from their Albany home to the busy sidewalk outside Trader Joe's at El Cerrito Plaza, where they placed an open instrument case at their feet and a sign on a music stand saying, "All Proceeds to Alameda County Food Bank."

By the time they stopped playing two hours later, they had collected $110, according to their father, Jeff Williams.

It was their idea.

"They decided to do more than just send a check," according to a Food Bank description of their initiative from the organization's executive director, Suzan Bateson. "They wanted to inspire others to donate too."

On the next outing, on Dec. 22, they donned Santa hats, and collected $149.

One passer-by exclaimed, "There's hope for the planet after all!" according to Bateson.

"The funds – and attention – they brought was music to our ears," Bateson said.

With that kind of success, they figured they weren't limited to playing only during the holidays. They went out a third time on March 16, when they raised an additional $108.

"We play for the food bank because it's the right thing to do," Jared said in a comment relayed by email Thursday in response to the question why the brothers play for the food bank.

"A lot of people don't think about it," he said. "I think they should. There are a lot of people who live without the things that we take for granted, like food, toys and games. Hunger is a real problem and not just in America." 

Now they've planned a fourth outing, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday, May 4, again at Trader Joe's.

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