PORTLAND, Ore. — Music and the connection it brings is Ryan Reed’s life. It’s not only his livelihood, it’s how he gives back to the community he loves.
“I make hip hop music. I produce, I throw a lot of events and concerts. Well, I used to throw a lot of events and concerts,” he said.
This year those live performances and fundraisers had to be put on hold because of the pandemic.
“One of the hardest things is not being able to throw events, especially because most of the events I threw were all benefit concerts,” Reed said. “So, 2019 we did a bunch of those with friends, and 2020, we haven’t been able to do any.”
In a time where music is, perhaps, needed the most, he couldn’t stand by when a Portland hospital called him up.
“I asked them how everything was going throughout 2020 and these hard times and they had expressed to me that they were running really low on art supplies and toys for the kids that are staying in Doernbecher, not just for the holidays, but they run workshops,” he said.
He’s worked with Doernbecher Children’s Hospital before, raising money through his company HAFLife Entertainment.
Right now, he’s challenging other local musicians to perform virtually to help them again.
“I can just perform in my living room, put it out there, get other local artists to come together and put out their in-home concerts, and then we would still be able to raise money,” he said.
He’ll use that money to buy art supplies for Doernbecher’s workshops for kids in the hospital.
Doing this was a no brainer for Reed. When he was in fifth grade a motocross accident landed him in Doernbecher’s care.
“Even though I was young, and in fifth grade, it still hit me that these kids are going through some very serious illnesses and I knew in the back of my head, I’m going to be able to go home here in a couple of days and a lot of these kids are not going to be able to go home,” he said. “And that just stuck with me because I saw so much positivity despite all the hardships they were going through.”
You can watch the at-home performances now on Instagram and Facebook. Just search for #HafLifeDoernbecherChallenge2020.
“I’m just grateful to be able to make a difference for the kids that are staying there. Thanks to everybody that’s tuning in and thank you to everybody that’s sent donations,” he said.
Donate to the #HafLifeDoernbecherChallenge2020 fundraiser on PayPal: paypal.me/haflifefundraising, on Venmo: @iamryanreed, or via CashApp: $iamryanreed.