Musicians to host Food Bank campaign
(Buffalo, NY) - Each month 96,000 struggling Western New Yorkers turn to soup kitchens, food pantries, and other sources for their meals. Supplies come from the Food Bank of WNY that has been a lifeline since 1979, moving food from sources to the needy, through a network of more than 300 community sites. Increasingly challenging times often inspire citizens’ creative responses, like the unique student-hosted music campaign called “tunes4food.”
On Friday, December 18, 2009, at the Walden Galleria Mall, (Cheektowaga, NY) a tunes4food concert is set to benefit the Food Bank and will run from 3-9 PM inside and on a stage near the Apple Store (ground floor north end near Sears.) Live music and student hosts will engage shoppers and seek support. The new event is a follow-up to the first tunes4food, 25-hour marathon held on Niagara Square last June.
High school students from Buffalo, Lockport, Lewiston-Porter, and Holland, along with college students from Villa Maria & Houghton, will introduce and share the stage with veteran local artists.
The coordinator, Student Voices, is building the tunes4food brand as a lesson in community service. Despite having its own funds reduced on NYS’s budget crisis chopping block, Student Voices is offering its creative resources to help other non-profits. This proactive stance is attracting partners.
New believers are bringing support, including Assembly member, Sam Hoyt. “The tunes4food project will assist the Food Bank of Western New York in its important mission of feeding those in need in our community,” says Hoyt. “It brings valuable experience to the participating students and entertainment to all who attend the performances. So everyone wins.”
In addition to Hoyt, WNY musicians, arts groups and businesses are getting involved. The growing team includes Key Bank, Ciurczak & Company, New Era Cap, Villa Maria College, Music in Action, Music is Art, Buffalo Music Hall of Fame, Buffalo Select Chorus, Buffalo Music Awards, Mike Vargovich, Emmi James, Free Henry!, Grace Stumberg, Bethany Fonda, Rachel O'Hara, Lenny Revell, The Blood Thirsty Vegans, YMaris Baez, Bernard Kunz, Six String Circus, The Headers, Chelsea Pelsone, Ed Bentley, The Joyce Wilson Nixon Band, Doug Yeomans and GCR Records.
Event donations and sales proceeds from CDs and special items will go to feed the hungry through the Food Bank’s more than 300 partners.
The non-profit Food Bank of Western New York, a member of the national network Feeding America, depends on special partnerships with food suppliers and community fundraising efforts like tunes4food to meet a growing regional need.
“We are so appreciative of the young musicians participating in the second Tunes4Food concert for the Food Bank of WNY. Our need is up 20 percent from last year and we can use any assistance to help us feed the hungry in our community,” said Marylou Borowiak, president and CEO of the Food Bank of WNY.
"The community showed amazing support for the first tunes4food event, which was imagined and completed very quickly”, stated Student Voices’ Coordinator Bob James. "The response was so strong, it planted seeds for more, including a new after-school program of artist workshops and a Mohawk Place benefit concert both planned for early 2010. Promoting innovation and teamwork during tough times is part of our cause."
For more information, email Bob James (bobjames1@aol.com) and visit www.tunes4food.org. Get to The Walden Galleria Mall on December 18, 2009 3pm until 9pm to see free live local music and help out this worthy cause.
