The Give US Your Poor Concert for Boston's Homeless A Remarkable Evening

Natalie Merchant, Mario Frangoulis, Mighty Sam McClain, Buffalo Tom headline with formerly homeless musicians at benefit concert.

BOSTON, November 16, 2007-- At the Strand Theatre in Dorchester, across the street from the United Homes Shelter, celebrity and homeless musicians came together with Mayor Menino, Appleseed Recordings, Lynn Blodgett of the Finding Grace Initiative, presenting sponsor Ipswitch Company, and a number of other sponsors/partners/volunteers to address homelessness. The concert was headlined by Natalie Merchant, Mighty Sam McClain, Mario Frangoulis, and Buffalo Tom. It also featured homeless and formerly homeless artists that appear on the Give US Your Poor CD (Appleseed Recordings).

photos: Susan Young
"Boll Weevil" by Dan Zanes & Kyla Middleton,
from Give US Your Poor CD (Appleseed Recordings)

The event was part of "Boston Helps the Homeless: Awareness to Action" weekend hosted by the Fannie Mae Foundation and Mayor Thomas M. Menino's Office at the City of Boston. Between acts video messages appeared from Steven Tyler, Jon Bon Jovi, and Danny Glover.

Mario Frangoulis did a powerful duet with 12-yr-old Kyla Middleton of John Lennon's song "Imagine" during his set. It brought a standing ovation and many a moist eye. After the song Mario presented Kyla with a $20,000 college scholarship on behlaf of the Haratio Alger Association. Karen Ward Holmes also announced the creation of a yearly Chancellor's Full Scholarship for a homeless or formerly homeless student from Massachusetts to attend UMass Boston for 4 years. The event was emcee'd by WCVB-TV's Karen Ward Holmes. Musicians included Cheryl Middleton, Kyla Middleton, Julia Tripp, Montreville Blakely, Chris Holzer, Julia Dinsmore, Nichole Cooper, and Michael Sullivan. Also on the CD and present at the concert was blues artist Weepin' Willie Robinson.

Below are video links to each of the headlining artists, as well as photos from the evening shot by Susan Young and Harry Brett (UMass Boston). Thanks to the 1000+ people that attended the concert and the pre-receotion featuring the photography of Lynn Blodgett, and the many partners that made this event possible. Very special thanks to each of the participating artists that came from all over the U.S. (and Greece!) to support this effort.

Natalie Merchant Watch video>>		Sam McClain Watch video>>		Mario Frangoulis Watch video>>		Buffalo Tom Watch Video>>

The concert kicked off two days of events dubbed Boston Helps the Homeless: Awareness to Action which included a day of service for homeless people/organizations across the city.

Give US Your Poor Concert produced in partnership with::
* City of Boston's Office of Arts, Tourism and Special events
* City of Boston's Emergency Shelter Commission
* UMass Boston
* McCormack Graduate School of Policy Studies
* Affiliated Computer Systems, Inc. (ACS)
* Mellon Bank
* FHASNE (Federation of Hellenic American Societies of New England)
* Finding Grace Initiative
* causemedia
* Michael P. Wasserman, Inc.
* Finding Grace Initiative
* Horatio Alger Association
* King Fish Media
* ACS Boston Office
* The Greek Institute
* Panagiotis Liaropoulos, UMass Boston's Performing Arts Dept.
* A Caspian Production
* Interaction Associates
* Virgin Mobile USA
* WUMB Folk Radio 91.9
* WBOS 92.9
* WCVB-TV Ch5
* Metro
* Boston Homeless Service Partner Organizations
* Give US Your Poor
* Special thanks to Susan Young and Harry Brett (UMass Boston) for their photography at the event * Special thanks to Tim Thomas and Lisa Link for website assistance