Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith came out to Little Kids Rock’s Family Jam held at Facebook’s headquarters last week. Smith received the “Livin’ the Dream” award and helped raise over $85,000 to help provide music education for students.
The award was created in honor of former Facebook head chef Josef Desimone, who died in a motorcycle accident in 2013.
Little Kids Rock is a nonprofit that provides free music lessons and instruments to underprivileged children in public schools throughout the US. They serve more than 400,000 students at over 1,700 schools in 29 cities nationwide.
“Music has been at the center of my life for as long as I can remember, and it’s pretty cool to be in a position to give back,” Smith told Rolling Stone. “Thanks to Little Kids Rock for taking the lead and building such an amazing organization.
“It’s so important to keep music education alive in our schools, and to dedicate resources to giving back to the next generation of music makers,” he continued. “I’m committed to doing everything I can to support this effort, and Saturday’s event at Facebook was an absolute blast. Who knows — maybe some of the kids we jammed with will be the next Red Hot Chili Peppers!”
Smith previously raised money for Little Kids Rock when he squared off with his doppelgänger Will Ferrell on the Tonight Show in an epic drum-off.
Check out footage from the Family Jam with Chad Smith below.