Rockin’ for a cause

T.+J.+Jose+%28left%29+and+Harrison+Cho+%28right%29+perform+at+the+Kiwins++benefit+concert+for+Project+Eliminate%2C+donating+the+proceeds+for+fighting+neonatal+and+maternal+tetanus.

Photo provided by: Daniel Cachin

T. J. Jose (left) and Harrison Cho (right) perform at the Kiwins benefit concert for Project Eliminate, donating the proceeds for fighting neonatal and maternal tetanus.

Members of Cam High’s KIWIN’S club demonstrated their musical abilities by performing at the quad last Saturday evening as KIWIN’s hosted their second-ever benefit concert.

All the proceeds went towards Project Eliminate, a program sponsored by Kiwanis International and UNICEF that is working to eradicate maternal and neonatal tetanus from the Earth.

The event was headed by Elise Umetsu, junior and current president of KIWIN’s, and Timothy Jose, senior and past president of the club.

“This year we figured, ‘You know let’s do this  again. We have so many talented people at our school.’ So we just kind of collaborated at our board meetings. It’s a patch work of all these different people contributing toward the same cause,” said Umetsu.

Members started setting up at 2 p.m., made sure everything was working out properly, and performers practiced on stage for the last time, but not without problems.

“We had no power basically half an hour before the concert was to start, and still none nine minutes before the start time. But I was able to reconfigure the electrical cords at the source last minute, and we finally got power five minutes before show time”, said Jedd Lebrilla, junior and performer at the benefit concert.

During the concert, Jose gave Lebrilla a warm shout out, thanking him for “saving the concert” by dealing with electrical difficulties.

Umetsu and Jose believe that the benefit concert was an overall success, since they  raised almost $1000 through ticket sales. Tickets were $5 pre-sale and $7 at the event, with every KIWIN’S board member required to sell at least five tickets.