GREEN COVE SPRINGS – There was a lot of jumpin’, jivin’, rockin’, playin’ and runnin’ from the rain last Saturday at the Boogerville Hideout.

And everyone had a great time.

“Everything was great, man. We had a good turnout, and we had a lot of fun; a lot of kids got instruments,” said Jumpin’ and Jivin’ Juneboree organizer Paul Wane. “The rain started early, but we were able to keep our schedule. We just had to start right when the rain stopped, so it was no big deal, really.”

The fourth annual event supports Wane’s Rising Stars: Guitars For Kids program, which gifts musical instruments to children throughout the Southeast, particularly in Northeast Florida. Wane got his first guitar from his uncle when he was 8, and he said that gesture changed his life.

He and his wife Lisa are paying it forward by repurposing instruments to give children different options other than trouble, drugs, video games and cellphones.

“We need to give them something else to do, something positive,” Wane said.

Counting the guitars, drums, keyboards, and bass guitars given away last Saturday through their nonprofit, the Wanes have distributed more than 500 instruments.

The event also featured nearly five hours of live music, and excluding St. Augustine’s Red Magnolia, all of the musicians have received an instrument from Wane.

The groups included Tara Nova, Dead Peace Theory and Shopping Mall Guerrillas. For Tara Nova, Jumpin’ and Jivin’ was their public debut.

“We keep working to make it bigger every year,” Wane said. “We’re able to do this because of the support of the community. We’re so grateful for all of their help and support.”

To support Rising Stars: Guitars For Kids, visit PaulWaneMusic.com.