Rockabilly's brightest luminary, Carl Perkins, once said that of all the honors he'd received in his life, having a child abuse prevention center named after him was the one he cherished the most. Perkins, whose 1956 smash crossover hit "Blue Suede Shoes" (it was the first song ever to sit near the top of each of the pop, country, and R&B charts) defines the essence of rockabilly, was the cofounder of the Exchange Club Carl Perkins Center For the Prevention of Child Abuse in Jackson, Tennessee.
The story goes that in 1979 Perkins viewed a news piece about a terrible case of a youngster who died as a result of child abuse in the Jackson area. Perkins was deeply affected by the story because he thought the picture of the abused child resembled one of his own children when they were young. So, he decided to get involved.
Perkins scheduled a benefit concert to help establish the Exchange Club for the Prevention of Child Abuse. With the money raised, along with some grant money, the center opened their doors in 1981 and as a tribute to the man who'd helped get things started, Perkins' name was added to the official name of the center. Today the center is recognized as one of the largest and most successful of its kind in the entire United States and serves almost all of western Tennessee. The center has grown from one location in Jackson to 18 centers with one located in almost every west Tennessee county. This reflects the kind of man Perkins was: If something was worth doing, it was worth doing big and it was worth making the most out of it that you could.
For the past 16 years the center has held an annual fundraising dinner and auction called the Blue Suede Dinner. So even after Perkins' death in the late 1990s, his legacy continues to help raise money for the cause he believed so strongly in during his life.
For Perkins, the prevention of child abuse was much more than just a worthy charity to give a few bucks to. It was a cause worthy of getting actively involved in. He turned his considerable talents, and his resulting financial success, into something bigger than himself. He knew that he had to give back to the world that had given him so much success and it was just like the man to find a way to do this while helping those members of our society who are the weakest and most vulnerable: children.
Child abuse prevention became a life cause for Perkins. He loved to visit his young friends at the center. He loved nothing more than helping them put their lives back together and most importantly, helping to break the cycle of child abuse. He knew first hand what it meant to have lost control of life. And he knew that if it scared him as much as it did when he was a grown man (Perkins had fought a major battle with alcohol in his younger years), it must be completely overwhelming for a child. He knew these children needed help and he did something about it. So, if you thought that Perkins' amazing contribution to rock and roll was accomplishment enough for one man, now you know that Perkins was no ordinary man. To the abused children of West Tennessee, he was truly a superstar of a completely different caliber!
The story goes that in 1979 Perkins viewed a news piece about a terrible case of a youngster who died as a result of child abuse in the Jackson area. Perkins was deeply affected by the story because he thought the picture of the abused child resembled one of his own children when they were young. So, he decided to get involved.
Perkins scheduled a benefit concert to help establish the Exchange Club for the Prevention of Child Abuse. With the money raised, along with some grant money, the center opened their doors in 1981 and as a tribute to the man who'd helped get things started, Perkins' name was added to the official name of the center. Today the center is recognized as one of the largest and most successful of its kind in the entire United States and serves almost all of western Tennessee. The center has grown from one location in Jackson to 18 centers with one located in almost every west Tennessee county. This reflects the kind of man Perkins was: If something was worth doing, it was worth doing big and it was worth making the most out of it that you could.
For the past 16 years the center has held an annual fundraising dinner and auction called the Blue Suede Dinner. So even after Perkins' death in the late 1990s, his legacy continues to help raise money for the cause he believed so strongly in during his life.
For Perkins, the prevention of child abuse was much more than just a worthy charity to give a few bucks to. It was a cause worthy of getting actively involved in. He turned his considerable talents, and his resulting financial success, into something bigger than himself. He knew that he had to give back to the world that had given him so much success and it was just like the man to find a way to do this while helping those members of our society who are the weakest and most vulnerable: children.
Child abuse prevention became a life cause for Perkins. He loved to visit his young friends at the center. He loved nothing more than helping them put their lives back together and most importantly, helping to break the cycle of child abuse. He knew first hand what it meant to have lost control of life. And he knew that if it scared him as much as it did when he was a grown man (Perkins had fought a major battle with alcohol in his younger years), it must be completely overwhelming for a child. He knew these children needed help and he did something about it. So, if you thought that Perkins' amazing contribution to rock and roll was accomplishment enough for one man, now you know that Perkins was no ordinary man. To the abused children of West Tennessee, he was truly a superstar of a completely different caliber!
No comments:
Post a Comment