PhillyBurbs.com

by Kristen Coppock

EVESHAM - A charity concert aims to give ill children a reason to be thankful.

Proceeds from the second annual thanksGIVING Festival will benefit St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital and Toys for Tots. Organizers also are asking attendees to donate playthings. Meanwhile, four bands will play for the crowd at Champps Americana in Evesham from 7 p.m. Wednesday to 2 a.m. Thursday.

The event is being sponsored by Davis Concert Staging, a nonprofit organization that uses music as a vehicle for community service and charitable fundraising.

“This is the time to be thankful for what we have and is our way of giving back,” said Ben Davis, DCS co-founder and a Mount Laurel resident.

The thanksGIVING Festival was first produced last year at the restaurant on Route 73, drawing about 850 people and raising more than $7,000.

“We are determined to beat last year’s numbers this year,” said Davis, 24, an information technologies systems engineer by day. “Our thanksGIVING Festival is a worthwhile event, a fun night with lots of great music and wonderful volunteers.”

The show’s lineup includes Desoto Jones from Mount Laurel. Other bands scheduled to perform are the Common Ground Band of Cherry Hill, Once Okay Twice from Washington, and Baltimore’s Can’t Hang.

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Two brothers have turned a love of music and sense of community into a thriving charitable organization. Evesham natives Ben and Jake Davis founded Davis Concert Staging (DCS) as a way of raising funds for nonprofit groups. The volunteer outfit’s latest production was the Summer Reggae Fest on July 18 at Champps on Route 70 in Evesham.

The event benefited St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital and featured Level Vibes, a band from Moorestown, as well as The Movement, Ballyhoo! and Steppin’ Razor, all of whom have established fan followings.

Ben Davis, a 24-year-old systems engineer, said he enjoys building the shows, bringing a crowd together, and seeing how the money being raised is used. One letter he received, for example, included a photograph of a smiling child who was given an instrument and music lessons through a charity supported by DCS.

“It’s very rewarding to see that,” said Ben, who lives in Mount Laurel.

His brother, a business student at Drexel University, said DCS gives the young men an opportunity to help their community. Jake Davis, 21, of Philadelphia, said people and “socially conscious businesses” with the means to do so should be charitable.

“It’s more of a responsibility, not just a good thing to do,” he said.
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SJ  Magazine
Jake , 21
Jake Davis is the passionate talent-seeker for the Davis Concert
Staging Company (DCS) and its vice president. “I’m constantly
seeking new talent and performers for DCS events, as well as
booking them,” explains Jake, a devoted fan of music.
DCS promotes and hosts live music events for various charities.
Its most recent project was the 2008 ThanksGIVING Festival in
Marlton, which drew about 850 patrons to see five local bands.
The happy result in these daunting economic times: $7,000 raised
for charities like Operation Gratitude and Toys for Tots.
In addition to his work with DCS, Jake is also a full-time
student in an MBA program at Drexel University, and manages
to socialize through introductions from friends, and by meeting
people in classes and at work.
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