Musicians' Alley donates to St. Jude's

SANDUSKY — Several area music lovers strung together a bunch of money to help benefit children receiving care at a Tennessee-based hospital.Musicians' Alley co-owners George Gast and Mike Matter along with one of their best customers, Gordon Taylor, came up with a plan to help benefit St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital.Earlier this year, Taylor purchased an Ibanez guitar from the downtown Sandusky store. Gast and Matter then made several modifications to improve the instrument. It was then recently by a Norwalk resident.All told, the individuals raised more than $1,000 through this process with every penny going to St. Jude's. The hospital runs solely on donations and doesn't charge families whose children receive treatment there, oftentimes for cancer."I just want to help some kid get better," Taylor said.Added Gast: "We hope this stems into something bigger and better. Maybe someone else will make a donation as well because of this."Visit stjude.org for more information about St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.Reach reporter Andy Ouriel at ouriel@sanduskyregister.com and follow him on Twitter @AndyOuriel.Three people — from left, Gordon Taylor, George Gast and Mike Matter — worked together to donate money to St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital — from selling an Ibanez guitar. The three posed for a photo at Musicians' Alley, a store co-owned by Gast and Matter, in downtown Sandusky. Taylor and Gast are holding up a different Ibanez guitar.