The 13th Annual Marathon Jam was to be again held at Chapel Hill Post 6, but was cancelled at Post 6 for 2020 due to Covid-19. There are no current plans for a 2021 Marathon Jam at our Post.
The Chapel Hill event has raised well over $150,000 and spinoff, concurrent events worldwide have generated over $500,000 for Fisher Houses! It all started right here in Chapel Hill.
As part of our continuing efforts to provide support and service to local veterans and our community, we have sponsored the Marathon Jam for Fisher House since 2006.
What’s a Marathon Jam? It is local musicians joining together for a non-political jam to raise awareness and money for military families. They gather at the Chapel Hill American Legion Post at 1 p.m. and play non-stop for twelve hours. New musicians join in all day long to give others a break and the music continues.
This event is open to the public and all local musicians. You can come on by and listen to the musicians or join right in. You can even make a request for a favorite song. Most of all, you can donate to the cause. Each musician reaches out to friends, family, neighbors and associates for sponsorship–just like a fun run. The only difference is that the musicians are strumming, not running.
If you do chose to join the jam and play for the families of our troops, we ask you to not make the Marathon Jam political in any way: this is not about the pros and cons of any particular administration or policy. It is about soldiers who have chosen to serve this great country and the families who support that decision with their own personal sacrifices. This event is in honor of those families.
The Chapel Hill American Legionnaires have been providing support and space to the Marathon Jam for well over six years. We support the event as a community service. The mission of the Marathon Jam is to gather people and players from all walks of life and across the globe together for a day of public service. In recent years, the focus of the Marathon Jam has been to give tangible support to our service members and their families as they recover from injuries sustained in the line of duty by raising money for the Fisher House Foundation.
This is a national day of service for musicians. It is their way of showing support for our military men and women. The Marathon Jam has been held in cities in North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, Minnesota, Arizona, Florida, Alabama, Wisconsin, Washington DC and Iraq and Afghanistan!
While our local event is raising money for Fisher House, other communities may be raising funds for their food bank, a homeless shelter, a local church or school program, the Wounded Warrior Project, or anything they want to support. The idea is musicians all across the country to gather for one day with one purpose, “To give back to the community.”