Vermont singer-songwriter Noah Kahan has raised more than $4 million through his mental health foundation the Busyhead Project since its inception in May 2023, the nonprofit announced on Tuesday.
The organization also donated $1 million to more than 100 community-based organizations across North America, Europe and the UK as part of Giving Tuesday, an annual global initiative that takes place the first Tuesday after Thanksgiving and encourages people to make charitable donations after the holiday shopping season kicks off on Black Friday. The Busyhead grants went to nonprofits such as the Los Angeles-based mental health services provider Didi Hirsch; Oasis Center in Nashville, Tenn.; and Spectrum Youth & Family Services in Burlington.
Kahan, a Strafford native whose career skyrocketed after the release of his 2022 album Stick Season, has long been an advocate for mental health care. He has freely spoken of his own struggles, which led him to establish the Busyhead Project. He raised $3 million this year alone through fan donations on his “We’ll All Be Here Forever” world tour.
In every city that Kahan visited, the Busyhead Project connected with local mental health organizations and set up Busyhead Project Action Villages outside each venue. The villages featured community walls where fans could leave notes and talk about their own mental health issues. By the end of the tour, the walls included more than 11,000 notecards.
Kahan has also prioritized charitable work closer to home. Last December he visited the University of Vermont Children’s Hospital, playing a private show for the young patients and hospital staff. With support from national coffee chain Dunkin’, he donated $2,000 in toys.
In September, the Grammy-nominated musician played a sold-out show at the Champlain Valley Exposition in Essex Junction to raise money for local mental health services. U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) introduced the singer at the concert; Gov. Phil Scott proclaimed that day, September 19, as “Noah Kahan’s Busyhead Project Day” in Vermont.
“I wanted to use my public platform to help support organizations across the country that provide the same safety net I was fortunate to have,” Kahan wrote in a 2023 op-ed for Time. “It’s no secret I pour my mental health into my music, and I will always continue to do so, but it means so much to me to be able to evolve that into actionable support.”
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