Carhartt announced its continued commitment to closing the skilled trades gap by dedicating its Fall 2024 For the Love of Labor grant to support Metallica’s All Within My Hands Foundation and its Metallica Scholars Initiative.
Created by heavy metal band Metallica, All Within My Hands is a non-profit, philanthropic organization dedicated to supporting workforce education by connecting future workers with trade programs in their local community. Carhartt’s For the Love of Labor grant donation will benefit the foundation’s Metallica Scholars program to support 60 community colleges across all 50 states – including the 18 new schools that joined the program in July.
Funding provided by Carhartt will support not only school tuition at local community colleges, but also wraparound services like childcare and transportation to eliminate barriers that may prevent candidates from pursuing skilled trades education.
“The Metallica Scholars Initiative was born from our passion to dismantle the stigma associated with the skilled trades. We are proud of how this program is changing lives across the nation,” said Metallica’s Lars Ulrich. “The importance of skilled trades education cannot be overstated, we are immensely grateful for organizations like Carhartt that are making a meaningful difference by breaking down barriers for the future of skilled labor.”
All Within My Hands’ is positioned to provide direct support to enhance technical education programs at a local level and help foster stronger pathways for workers to develop the skills needed to enter a traditional trade or other applied learning program. Now entering its sixth year, the Metallica Scholars initiative has impacted the lives of approximately 6,000 students, contributing to 30 fields of study and investing over $10.5 million to-date to support America’s skilled workforce.
“We share a common mission to strengthen communities by closing the skilled trades gap,” said Todd Corley, senior vice president of inclusion, sustainability and community at Carhartt. “Skilled trades education can be the start of a life-changing career path. We are proud to support organizations that are inspiring the next generation of workers by showing them how they can make their own history through the skilled trades.”
In March 2024, the workwear brand donated all proceeds from Carhartt.com, Reworked.Carhartt.com and all of its retail locations to All Within My Hands on International Women’s Day to foster stronger pathways for women to enter the skilled trades.
Since its inception in Aug. 2020, Carhartt’s For the Love of Labor grant program has received hundreds of applications and awarded 24 grants – totaling nearly $2.7 million – to eligible U.S.-based 501c3 designated organizations in recognized apprenticeship industries that serve at least 100 individuals annually.
