Tim Cook donates $100,000 to his high school’s band

Apple CEO TTim Cook donates $100,000 to his high school’s band to assist fund the acquisition of new equipment for the band at the Alabama high school he attended.

The gift, which was provided to the Robertsdale High School band, was used by the Baldwin county public School system to purchase 28 different pieces of equipment for pupils. The technological improvements included flutes, horns, and tubas, Alabama news outlet Al.com has reported.

“These instruments will strengthen the entire band and supply instruments to kids this year and for many years to come. The Robertsdale band continues to grow every year and with that the demands of the ensemble,” stated Chastity Reddick.

Cook, who graduated from Robertsdale High School in 1978, has a unique connection to the band program at the school since he played trombone throughout his years there.

The Baldwin County School District is currently collecting a remaining $40,000 to aid the program, but school officials say they are grateful for the gift.

“We are speechless. Due to our development, we found ourselves in a scenario where we didn’t have enough instruments for this coming fall. We would have had more students than instruments, and required $140,000 to make this happen,” stated band director LT Hughes on a Facebook post-Wednesday.

This is not the first time that Cook has assisted students at his alma mater. Back in 2021, the Apple chief executive created a scholarship program to provide monetary aid to students demonstrating attributes like “grit, creativity, curiosity, academics, [and] leadership.”