Apple CEO Tim Cook Donates $100,000 Worth of Instruments to Alabama High School Marching Band

Long before he was worth two billion dollars, Apple CEO Tim Cook was a student at Robertsdale High School in Robertsdale, Alabama.

More than 40 years after graduating, Cook hasn't forgotten where he came from. Each year he sponsors almost $50,000 worth of scholarships at the Mobile-area school. And this month, when the Golden Bear Marching Band needed some extra help, he came through yet again.

On the first day of summer vacation, band director Lee Hughes had dozens of marching band members report to the band room for a special surprise. According to WKRG, what they found was nearly 30 instrument cases— new saxophones, tubas, bassoons, sousaphones, flutes, and more—displayed in a semi-circle in the middle of the room.

"The CEO of Apple, Tim Cook, who is a Robertsdale graduate and [was] a trombone player in the band when he was here, has donated $100,000 so we can have enough marching instruments to have for next year," Hughes told the students. "So, everything you see, is for you."

Hughes told WKRG that the marching band has almost tripled in size over the last five years. The new instruments will benefit students for generations.

"This is incredible. You're talking 30 years, 40 years of use of these instruments," he told the local news station. "It's going to affect thousands of kids."