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<\/figure>\n\n\n\n\u201cShe always loved to be able to hear me play whenever she could,\u201d Hagan said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After high school, the band members went their separate ways, but they reformed 40 years later to keep playing music and spreading their message: Be KIND for no reason.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Waller\u00a0embodied that message well. She was a cafeteria worker at Tompkinsville Elementary School and had such an effect on the students there that they would run to give her a hug when they saw her elsewhere in town. Hagan said it was an amazing thing to see.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cShe loved working there, and the kids grew up, and they never forgot her,\u201d Hagan said. \u201cShe loved those kids.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When Waller died in 2021, Hagan knew he needed to do something to keep her memory alive. The perfect solution was a scholarship that helped young musicians, artists, and good citizens in the community. The No Deposit Band Scholarship grew out of that effort, and the band, which was already a fan of giving\u00a0back to the community, expanded its reach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI did not want her name to ever \u2014 her legacy to [ever] \u2014 fade away,\u201d Hagan said. \u201cI thought, \u2018Well, I\u2019m going to do a scholarship thing in my mom\u2019s name,\u2019 and I did. And so we started giving $500 scholarships to some kids.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The band itself initially maintained the fund, but it was such a success that others wanted to donate to it. Soon, the Mary Lou Waller Scholarship Fund became its own 501(c)(3). The band and the fund have raised money for scholarships, children with cancer, Shop with a Cop, the Junior ROTC, and veterans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI just want to help people. It\u2019s just something that I wish everybody did,\u201d Hagan said. \u201cIt\u2019s just the little things \u2014 just to do the little things, [and] just to be able to smile at somebody.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n All of that work, Hagan said, is a great thing to have done in his mother\u2019s name.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI can\u2019t even begin to tell you what an honor it is to get to do it, and it\u2019s just really grown,\u201d Hagan said. \u201cWe\u2019re going to do a lot of really, really special things.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n One of those special things will be the band\u2019s annual fundraiser. It began as a one-time event to raise money for a child with cancer. The event raised over $10,000, and the band decided to keep the fundraiser going each year. Hagan also hopes to eventually be able to donate instruments to kids who want to learn music.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI never dreamed that we would be where we\u2019re at right now, so there\u2019s no limit on what you can do,\u201d Hagan said. \u201cGod just has a way of bringing things and people into your life that you just really don\u2019t expect.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Hagan said he doesn\u2019t know where the No Deposit Band or the scholarships will go in the future, but he and his fellow band members have no intention of stopping.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOur shirt says \u2018Be KIND for no reason,\u2019 and … we try to live by that,\u201d Hagan said. \u201cIt\u2019s not just a saying.\u201d GN<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" ON STAGE, colorful lights silhouette the four-man band delivering the best of Woodstock-era rock and Motown music. Fans travel with them back in time while investing in tomorrow, supporting the No Deposit Band\u2019s give-back mission. If it\u2019s the soundtrack of your youth, you easily remember returning bottles for reimbursement of the deposit collected at the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":23360,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"off","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23358","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cover"],"yoast_head":"\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/bowling-green\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2024\/11\/3-3-1024x683.png\")
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