BY BETH VELLIQUETTE
bvelliquette@heraldsun.com; 419-6632
CHAPEL HILL — Guitarists from Chapel Hill and East Chapel Hill high schools will face off in a battle of guitars, and the Ukulele Orchestra will show off its strumming skills during a Hope for Haiti Benefit Jam on Sunday.
The concert will feature eight musical groups from the two high schools interspersed with comment from the Sacrificial Poets, a youth performance poetry team.
“We’ve been planning this since the end of January,” said Megan Everett, the service learning coordinator at Chapel Hill High School.
Shortly after the earthquake struck Haiti, a group of 15 students and faculty members at Chapel Hill High School formed a group they informally called the Haiti committee, and they thought about ways to raise money to send to charities helping those in Haiti.
Their first effort was to collect change, and they also sold Hope for Haiti wristbands, Everett said.
So far they raised about $6,000, and they’re sending $2,500 to Partners in Health and $2,500 to Doctors Without Borders.
They also held an Art Sale at Open Eye Café and raised $700, which was sent to the American Red Cross.
“Our idea was for these fundraising efforts to keep a focus on what’s going on even after it’s left the headlines,” Everett said.
The Haiti committee began planning the concert. The student government became involved in the plans, reached out to the East Chapel Hill High School student government and involved some of its musical groups.
Chapel Hill High Student Body President Wes Sutter, Secretary Claire Mayes and Angelica Hinchman, a cabinet member of the student government, have been organizing the concert and recruiting groups to play and sing.
The groups include men’s and women’s a cappella groups and some “garage bands,” Hinchman said.
“We have really good musical groups in the high school,” she said. “It’s really nice to have them all perform in one place.”
The concert is Sunday at the Carrboro Century Center on North Greensboro Street. It begins at 2 p.m. and ends at 4:30 p.m.
Organizers are asking for a minimum donation of $5. Proceeds from the concert will go to Partners in Health and Doctors Without Borders.
