A triumph through tragedy led Ryan and Heather Kinder to aim to provide, through music and the arts, a toy for as many children as possible affected by natural disasters.

In April 2011 Ryan and Heather were students at The University of Alabama. On April 27, 2011 a EF4 tornado tore through Tuscaloosa, AL and devastated the town. This day changed their outlook on life forever. Shortly after the tornado, both Ryan and Heather decided it was time to not hold back and to go after their dreams in Music City. These dreams included Ryan launching his professional career as a musician and Heather going after her dream of being a NFL cheerleader.

In 2014, the newlyweds decided it was time to officially launch Kinder’s Kids. The idea came from one of Ryan’s memories from the 2011 tornado clean up efforts. As Ryan was joining in the efforts to help those in need and clean up after the disaster he came upon a family who had lost everything except a child that was clutching a single toy.

Each Christmas since launching Kinders Kids, Titans Cheerleaders and Alumni have donated toys to the foundation. Additionally, Ryan has been able to gather toys while on the road touring via his show rider.

A rider is a list of needs of an artist at every venue for every night of a performance. Ryan’s rider always includes a $15 toy on his rider. This idea came after he saw a fellow artist with the same request. This other artist only aimed to play with the toy to pass the time before the gig. Ryan had a more giving idea in mind.

While the Kinders are focusing only on toy drives at this time they aim to grow the foundation and hope in the future to fund fine arts in less fortunate schools.

Ryan says, “We have no plans to stop at only toys at Christmas and helping schools gain a more accessible music program. We want to do more. As Plato said, ‘I would teach children music, physics and philosophy; but most importantly music, for the patterns in music and all the arts are the key to learning.’ The child that picks up an instrument today could be someone who changes the world with their music tomorrow”