Nurse Plays for Patients, Surprised by Guitar Center
In June, Guitar Center’s Orange Park, Florida location surprised a local nurse to help her to continue making music and inspiring her patients.
During National Hospital Week in May, Shondra Diggett, a nurse in the behavioral unit of Orange Park Medical Center, performed a short set that happened to be covered by a local news station. In fact, Diggett had been regularly performing for her patients, expanding her audience to include fellow staff and hospital visitors. The growing publicity of both her talent and belief in the healing power of music caught the attention of Ron Japinga, Guitar Center’s CEO, who felt compelled to show his gratitude to Diggett.
“When I saw Shondra’s story on the news, I was moved by her performance and felt compelled to do something to support her. I hope her story inspires more medical professionals to tap into the healing power of music,” said Japinga.
With the help of Devon Dame, store manager of the Orange Park location, the company was able to “pay it forward” with a gift card donation to Diggett. Dame reflected on the experience, “Shondra was very surprised and delighted that we were giving her this gift; you could see that she was not expecting anything like this. It was a wonderful moment to be able to watch someone who has contributed so much to the community receive such a generous gift.”
A spokesperson for Orange Park Medical Center remarked, “It was difficult to tell under her mask, but you could see a big smile in her eyes. She kept looking at Devon in shock and trying to control her excitement. Days later, she was still shocked by the generosity shown to her from Guitar Center.” Diggett plans on using the gift card to begin formal lessons with Guitar Center’s vibrant lesson program and purchase her dream guitar.
For more information from Guitar Center, please visit https://www.guitarcenter.com/.