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.