Harry Chapin

Outside of his musical career, Chapin was deeply committed to philanthropy, particularly fighting hunger in the United States and around the world. In 1975, he co-founded World Hunger Year (renamed to WhyHunger), along with friend and popular radio host Bill Ayres. After forming the organization, which is aimed at addressing the causes of hunger and poverty, Chapin frequently visited Washington, D.C. to lobby for hunger causes. On July 16, 1981, in the early afternoon, Chapin was tragically killed in a car accident while driving on the Long Island Expressway (New York's Interstate 495). At the time of his death, he was working on several songs that were released posthumously in the album The Last Protest Singer (1988). He was survived by his wife, Sandy; their two children, Jen and Josh; and three stepchildren (who Chapin legally adopted), Jaime, Jonathan and Jason. In the months after Chapin's death, the Harry Chapin Foundation was founded in his honor. In 1987, Chapin was posthumously awarded a Special Congressional Gold Medal, during a tribute concert that was held in his honor. An album of that event was released a few years later, in 1990. Today, Chapin's daughter, Jen Chapin, chairs the board of directors of WhyHunger, which annually honors individuals who work toward improving hunger issues with the Harry Chapin Self-Reliance Award. Similarly, everal other activist organizations have created awards in honor of Chapin's work, including the National Association of Recording Merchandisers' Harry Chapin Memorial Humanitarian Award, which memorializes Chapin's efforts on behalf of the environment and other humanitarian causes; and the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers' Harry Chapin Humanitarian Award, which honors humanitarian contributions.