Metallica Is Showing People That Some Things Do Matter — Let's Check out Their Charity Organization

Super fans of Metallica might not agree with us when we say that their most influential song is probably "Enter Sandman." We can almost feel the eye rolls that inevitably accompany this statement due to the fact that "Enter Sandman" reached no. 1 on multiple Billboard charts. There might be better songs, and deeper cuts, but that guitar riff is recognized by people of many backgrounds all over the world.

Thanks to Season 4 of Stranger Things, a younger audience was introduced to another one of their brilliant songs from a catalogue that spans decades: "Master of Puppets." This is a band that has reinvented itself numerous times, including that moment in the 1990s when they all cut their hair.

Outside of music, the band has chosen to give back in a way that goes far beyond an incredible playlist. Metallica has a charity which is anything but sad, and definitely true. Let's check it out.

Metallica named their charity organization All Within My Hands (AWMH) after their 2003 song off the St. Anger album. It was created in 2017 by the members and management of Metallica. Through their work, they aim to "assist and enrich the lives of members of the communities who have supported the band for years, as well as encourage participation from fans and friends," per the charity's website.

All Within My Hands focuses on workforce education via a partnership with the American Association of Community Colleges, which helped create the Metallica Scholars Initiative (MSI). This scholarship fund is a "major workforce education program that provides direct support to community colleges to enhance their career and technical education curricula." In 2025, they provided $3 million in grants to 75 community colleges across all 50 United States, plus Guam.

The band is also committed to battling food insecurity. A portion of ticket sales from their live shows is donated to local food banks at every tour stop. This is made possible thanks to a partnership with Feeding America and The Farmlink Project. Last but not least, the charity is passionate about community safety. This goes beyond natural disasters. With the help of Direct Relief and World Central Kitchen, AWMH donates a portion of ticket sales to relief funds for survivors of domestic abuse.

In a conversation with CBS News, Metallica frontman James Hetfield talked about the importance of jobs where actual people work with their hands. "It was very evident during COVID, you know, when we weren't able to go out and do our thing," he recalled. "But the plumber, the electrician, the truck driver, the people that needed to help keep America running were there. And thank God for them."

Bassist Robert Trujillo was a construction worker before he joined Metallica. "We all came from, I mean, pretty humble beginnings," he explained. "At a certain point, you realize, like, hey, you know, we're selling tickets, we're doing well, the ship's not sinking. What can we do to make people's lives better?" That's when the charity was born.

As James astutely pointed out, a life plan that includes four years of college isn't for everyone. "Not everyone is built for college, and not everyone needs college," said the son of a truck driver. Things really started rolling when the band tried to figure out what to do with their leftover backstage food. A scholarship recipient met James backstage at a show in Landover, Md.

She told him that it changed her life. James said his life was also changed.