Cornell and his wife, Vicky, at the premiere of The Promise in April
Cornell and his wife, Vicky, at the premiere of "The Promise" in April TARA ZIEMBA VIA GETTY IMAGES

Today would have been Chris Cornell’s 53rd birthday—and so far, it’s been a lot of sad news (Chester Bennington, lead singer of Linkin Park and friend of the late legendary grunge singer, committed suicide). But here’s a bit of news that will help ease the pain of a rough day: Seattle non-profit Childhaven has announced a new music therapy program for children in Cornell’s name.

The program, jump-started by a $100,000 donation from the Chris & Vicky Cornell Foundation, will focus on a therapeutic early-learning model developed by Childhaven that helps kids up to age 5 cope with the effects of traumas like abuse, neglect, and domestic violence.

“The Chris and Vicky Cornell Foundation is excited to join Childhaven to support its extraordinary work impacting the lives of those in need,” said Vicky Cornell in a statement. “Chris and I always shared a strong belief in the healing and inspiring power of music, and through Childhaven’s establishment of this program, we are able to keep the promise for Chris by continuing to protect the world’s most vulnerable children.”

Helping children in need was a priority for Cornell during his life. Last month, the foundation released a video for Cornell’s “The Promise”—a song written for Christian Bale’s film of the same name about the Armenian genocide and the plight of child refugees. (Proceeds from the song were donated to the International Rescue Committee.)

Local musician Brian Vogan, who runs the music therapy program at Childhaven, talked to Rolling Stone about the power of music to heal:

“Because of what they’ve experienced, a lot of children come to Childhaven struggling with anger and other overwhelming emotions. Being able to beat on drums is really helpful for them. Other kids are very shy, and music helps to bring them out of their shell.”

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I…ummmmm, I think I’ve got something…in my…in my eye (sniff, sniff).