Olesya Salnikova
Staff Writer
Pepperdine is co-sponsoring a concert tomorrow night to benefit the victims of the tsunami disaster in Southeast Asia.
After tsunamis swept across the coasts of 12 countries Dec. 26 and killed more than 169,000 people and left millions more homeless, the Pepperdine Volunteer Center immediately began organizing a relief campaign to aid those left without shelter or food.
Among several upcoming relief programs, the “Many Hands” benefit concert will be held at 7 p.m. on Friday at Cavalry Community Church in Westlake Village.
The Christian rock band, Ten Shekel Shirt, is slated to perform at the benefit.
“It’s great music,” junior Seth Allingham, a PVC intern, said. “Ten Shekel Shirt is a very good band and very well known in Christian circles. The concert gives people a chance to support the effort and have fun at the same time.”
The concert is open to anyone who wants to donate money to support a good cause, said Allingham, one of the concert coordinators.
“You can donate $5 or $100,” he said. “You can make an enormous difference in the life of someone going through this recent tragedy.”
In addition to Pepperdine, other sponsors include World Vision, a Christian relief organization, KMLT-FM, KLFF-FM and Ventura Printing.
All proceeds from the concert will go to the World Vision relief organization, which will use the funds to rebuild community infrastructures in the region over the next three years.
According to the World Vision Web site, the money raised by the benefit concert will be used to provide food, medicine and survival kits to the Asian countries affected by the disaster. Included in the kits are blankets, tarps for temporary shelter, water purification tablets and cooking supplies.
Some contributions will also go to clothes, bottled water and sleeping mats.
Allingham said the benefit concert will not only help the PVC in its support of organizations like World Vision, but also give them the opportunity to work with advertisers and sponsors for the event.
Most importantly, it “allows the school to take part in the fund-raising efforts,” Allingham said.
Proceeds from the relief benefit also go beyond simply providing temporary relief and small necessities, said Sam Jackson, a coordinator for World Vision.
“Our goal is to work toward the complete recovery of the communities that were affected,” Jackson said. “We want to rebuild as many communities and as many villages as we can.”
The benefit will not only help rebuild the suffering communities in Southeast Asia, but also contribute to the local community.
“It is an appeal for the public to come out and be together with a Christian theme but nevertheless inclusive,” Jackson said. “In a time of crisis, people have an opportunity to come together. It is the perfect occasion for us to be together with the people that are with us right now.”
The concert is also bringing different Christian denominations together in support of a single cause.
“I think it’s really good that they are proving that different churches can unite in Christ’s name,” Allingham said. “People are coming together to share a common generosity and desire to help others.”
Jackson said the call to help people in the areas affected by the tsunami has a scriptural basis. He also said the relief effort has received strong backing from Christian organizations.
“In these situations, it calls for further action,” Jackson said. “In scripture, it tells us of the importance of crossing the road to help somebody.”
The PVC is still looking for more student volunteers to help organize and coordinate the benefit concert.
Student volunteers who are interested in ushering people into the concert or driving a carpool are encouraged to call ext. 4143 or e-mail seth.allingham@pepperdine.edu for more information about the event.
01-20-2005
