Does your child want to pick up an instrument? Local nonprofit renting its gear

Girls Rock NC, a local nonprofit that offers music programs for girls, women and others of marginalized genders, is offering up its collection of instruments for rent.

The offer, according to an email, is an effort to ensure that musical education and expression remains accessible to all. The instruments are available to the community, but particularly for those who may have trouble affording an instrument rental.

"We want to offer gear (and future programming) to everyone who would like to, particularly young people of color, trans youth and families who have lost work or have been laid off during the COVID-19 pandemic," according to the loan request and agreement form.

The group will be loaning out electric guitars, guitar amps, bass guitars, bass amps, keyboards and drum kits. They will be offered on a sliding scale, based on what a family can afford.

"Your donations will help sustain Girls Rock NC programming during the COVID-19 pandemic while the organization has no other formal source of income," the organization writes.

Girls Rock is known for its very popular summer camps, as well as its after school programs, intersession camps in the fall and spring and a spring Rock Roulette for adults, according to its website, and serves more than 300 kids each year. This summer, with traditional camps shut down, the nonprofit did offer some free weekly online offerings for kids starting in second grade in June and earlier this month.