A popular live music fundraiser is returning to its original venue in February with new beneficiaries.
Music for the Mind will be held Feb. 4 at The Kent in Chatham with doors at 7:30 pm and performances beginning at 8 pm Proceeds will go towards child and adult counseling services at Family Service Kent, as well as Family Service Kent’s KIDS Team Program for psychological assessments for children and youth.
Elisha Banks organized the first event in 2020 and the fundraiser moved outdoors to The Boonies Drive In Theater in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. These events raised $91,765 for the Chatham-Kent Health Alliance Foundation.
Banks said Family Service Kent reached out to her once she announced she was looking for a new organization to support.
“We had a chance to sit down with them and ask them, ‘If I did choose to support Family Service Kent, how would they use the funds? How could it help in the community around mental health?’” Banks said in an interview.
“From that meeting we decided they were a good fit for what we were hoping to do moving forward.”
The event will feature three bands – Walkin’ 47, Dirt Country and Big Shiny Toons – on the main stage upstairs at The Kent. During downtime, the Just Us Acoustic Trio will perform downstairs and DJ Shawn L will spin tunes upstairs between bands.
“They all donate their time to the cause, so it’s a nice opportunity for people to get a night of fun live music and we get to showcase the local talent that we have,” Banks said.
A news release from Music for the Mind said there were “difficult circumstances” the organizers had to overcome since the last event, but they felt they needed to move forward.
“For me and the rest of the Music for the Mind team, fundraising is a work of heart and we do what we do out of a love for this community, a passion for supporting mental health, and a strong commitment to helping those in need who struggle with mental health right here in Chatham-Kent,” Banks said in the release.
The event has a total of 350 tickets available, though some have already sold out. Tickets are $25 and can be ordered by contacting organizers through the Music for the Mind Facebook page at www.facebook.com/musicforthemindck or by calling 519-437-5254.
No tickets will be available at the door and the fundraiser is a 19 and older event.
Sponsors for Music for the Mind include Luke Davidson Wedding Officiant, ProVision Collision, O’Brien Robertson Realty, Matthew Foulis Sun Life Financial Planner, Dillon Consulting, Latitude Realty Inc., Chatham-Kent Performance Health, Uride, Challenger Pallet & Crate, Studio75Design , Hub Creative Group, All Kindz of Kopies, 99.1 CKXS and Four Diamond Events.