Ian Dumpert is back in Denver today, almost a month after being shot during a robbery while waiting to board a train in the city’s well-known Five Points neighborhood.

The 23-year-old Lawrence carpenter was waiting with a group of friends for the train after a concert. His trip back also is for a concert.

But this concert isn’t just about having a good time; it’s for a cause. It is to help Dumpert – whose jaw is still wired shut and who can’t work – pay for medical expenses.

The concert also will benefit 23-year-old Joseph Kuebel, a Kansas University student from Glen Ellyn, Ill., and 22-year-old John Watt, a Kansas State student from Wamego, who were injured during the robbery.

Melissa Smith, the event’s organizer, said musicians in Denver decided to have a benefit concert to raise money to cover the victims’ medical costs.

More than 12 bands will take part in the event, called Jam 4 Life, today and Sunday at Cervantes Masterpiece Ballroom in Denver. Those who can’t attend can contribute by visiting the benefit’s Web site at www.jam4life.net and making a donation, or by going to any US Bank location and making a donation to the Jam 4 Life Benefit fund.

“Hopefully we can raise enough money to help with some of these guys’ medical expenses,” Smith said.

Among the bands that are taking part in the concert is Zilla, the act that Dumpert and his friends saw in March before the robbery occurred.

Dumpert said that while he does have health insurance, his out-of-pocket expenses are massive. Not yet fully recovered, he already owes more than $10,000 to various hospitals. On top of that, he’ll have missed nearly two months of work by the time he has recovered.

Trent Foster, a KU senior and Dumpert’s roommate, was with the group when it was robbed but wasn’t injured. He’s also making the trip to Denver – a trip he said he wouldn’t be making if it weren’t for the security and transportation that event organizers have arranged.

“They’ve got guards for us, and they’re going to provide a bus for all of us,” he said.

Dumpert, meanwhile, isn’t as nervous because he’s heard the Denver police have been conducting regular police patrols through the area every few minutes.