Benefit concert to assist agency for second year / LJWorld.com

Archive for Thursday, May 31, 2007

By Sarah Van Dalsem - svandalsem@ljworld.com

May 31, 2007

Raising money for the children of Reno County will be the goal for Lee Eldridge when his band puts on a benefit concert for Big Brothers Big Sisters.

Eldridge, who owns Absorbent Ink. in Lawrence, is part of the band Alpheus, which consists of four members of the 1984 graduating class from Buhler High School, plus a longtime friend. The band will come together June 9, for the second time in as many years at McGraw's in Hutchinson.

The band played together in the '80s, but broke up. Then, the members joined regional bands such as The Strip and That Statue Moved. Eldridge played with Broken Inglish.

Last year's concert raised about $3,000, all of which was donated to BBBS.

"We all feel pretty fortunate to be raised with our families, so we wanted to help out the children," Eldridge said. "We did it last year just because it would be fun, and everyone was overwhelmed with the turnout."

The group, which set aside four weekends to practice, plans to perform 50 songs, most from the '80s.

Lynette Mitchell Smith, executive director of BBBS of Reno County, said that such events were important. It requires $800 to $1,000 to match a child with a volunteer, because of the cost of recruitment and other items.

The organization has 120 children on its waiting list.

"We follow up and support the volunteers, which helps get the kids off of the (waiting) list," Mitchell Smith said.

- Sarah Van Dalsem can be reached at 832-7222.