Johnny Cash NASHVILLE, Tennessee (AP):
OFFICIALS WITH SOS Children's Villages were surprised the family of Johnny Cash requested donations in his memory be sent to them.
The singer, who died Friday, had worked with the charitable organisation near his home in Jamaica, often visiting the children it supported and following their progress.
"We had no clue," said Michelle Tennant, spokeswoman for the United States branch of the non-profit group, in a telephone interview. "We were completely honoured. And wow, it's such good news."
Cash, 71, died of respiratory failure brought on by complications of diabetes. A funeral service was held Monday in Hendersonville, Tennessee.
Officials with the charity said Cash's involvement began through his friendship with John and Michelle Rollins of Wilmington, Delaware, who donated the land for the Barrett Town village near Montego Bay, Jamaica.
Cash, who purchased his home from the Rollins family, lived next to the village that opened in 1972 and regularly visited it, charity officials said.
He also donated money for construction of a home in the village and occasionally entertained children there with his music.
KEEN ABOUT THE DEVELOPMENT
"He was always keen about the development of the village and what happened to the children here," said Heinz Simonitsch, co-founder of the Barrett Town village, in a phone interview from Jamaica. "He was genuinely interested in them."
About 70 children live at the village by Cash's home, and another village near Kingston has 120 children there, officials said.
Simonitsch said Johnny and June Carter Cash last visited the village in the winter. June Carter Cash died in May, and the Rollins family made a donation to the village in her memory.
The Imst, Austria-based charity has worked in the United States for 10 years and helps about 200 children in Coconut Creek, Florida and Lockport, Illinois.
The group is much better known worldwide, helping 52,000 orphaned and abandoned children beginning in 1949 find permanent homes in 131 countries, according to officials.
"Basically, it gets kids who were abandoned and provides them with a community," Tennant said.
Tennant says the Cash family's unexpected generosity has increased calls to donate threefold. The organisation raised $1 million last year in the U.S.
"We have been friends and neighbours," said Johann Denk, director of SOS Children's Villages of Jamaica. "Children always need idols, and Johnny Cash is one of them."
