Record Crowds & Sponsorships Raise the Bar for Donation

More than 5,500 music lovers learned what it means to “Power Up the Purple Pod” at Band Together NC’s annual charity concert on May 7 outside Lincoln Theatre in Downtown Raleigh. With many concert-goers dressed in purple attire, and the stage bathed in a purple light show, the event helped raise about $460,000 for Alliance Medical Ministry to provide staffing for an existing health care pod in order to better serve the working uninsured in Wake County.

With energetic sets from Lonnie Walker, Dillon Fence and headliner Third Eye Blind, as well as a special after-party performance by I Was Totally Destroying It, the fundraising concert event broke several records and featured several firsts for Band Together, including:

- Approximately $460,000 – most money ever raised for a charity partner

- More than 5,500 attendees

- More than 175 sponsors

- A sellout of 2,000 VIP tickets

- $22,975 raised through a special silent auction, autographed guitar raffle and new text-to-donate option

- $510 raised through sales of a charity CD compilation from Mended Heart Records

The $460,000 raised from this event will help Alliance Medical Ministry hire a doctor and nurse, decrease new patient wait time, increase its patient base by 1,500, and increase patient visits each year by 3,000.

“It’s really cool to be playing in a local community to support a charity like Band Together that supports other local charities,” said Kryz Reid, lead guitarist for Third Eye Blind. “You guys rock, what you do.”

“I am so proud of our hard-working volunteers, faithful sponsors and the amazing amount of community support this year,” said Danny Rosin, Band Together president and co-founder. “Every year we try to raise the bar, and through 100-percent volunteer efforts we have succeeded again. Band Together was founded from the ashes of 9/11, and it feels great to look back over the last ten years and see we were able to turn a dark and tragic day into a positive force that has generated more than $1.4 million for local charities.”

Using music as a draw, Band Together raises funds from sponsorships and ticket sales to benefit a different charity partner every year. Major sponsors for 2011 include The Helton Foundation Trust, S&A Cherokee, Cargill, Windstream Hosted Solutions, Duke Realty, WakeMed, Triangle Medical Professionals, and Hill, Chesson & Woody. A full list of sponsors can be found at www.bandtogethernc.org/sponsors.

For more information about Band Together, visit www.bandtogethernc.org, become a fan on Facebook or follow @bandtogethernc on Twitter. To learn more about Alliance Medical Ministry, visit www.alliancemedicalministry.org.