In a fury of heavy drums and guitars at Totem Hall, the second annual Samapalooza doubled its attendance and raised more than $4,700 to benefit The Sustainability through Agriculture and Micro-Enterprises (SAM) Project on Saturday night (March 29).
About 300 young 樱桃视频residents bobbed their heads to the donated sounds of pop punk bands The Latency, Bullets in Overdrive, Moments and Missing Starla in support of The SAM Project, which was created by the Eves family after the 2007 slaying of their son and brother Sam. The non-profit organization supports rural development in Zambia.
Father Colin Eves said it was great to see a lot of friendly faces supporting the project and keeping his son's memory alive.
"A lot of kids here are ones that went to school with Sam," he said.
"He was killed two years ago so it's interesting to see these kids that are more grown up. And it's nice to see a bunch of friends of our other two sons [Nigel and Buzz] coming out to support as well. I think many of them come to see the music, but I think the majority of them come just to help support in Sam's memory."
On April 15, Colin and wife Sandra are returning to Zambia for more than three months to continue hands-on initiatives. Five young people are joining the couple as part of the 樱桃视频Community Awareness Program. Samantha O'Brien, Amy Becker and Ian MacKay are journeying to Zambia for three weeks in May before Jaslyn and Connor Haberl take their places in June.
The young people will establish gardens and seedling nurseries while participating in HIV/AIDS education workshops and preschool immunization clinics, said Eves.
"They'll help on the projects and hopefully have a bit of an eye-opening experience to see how a billion people in the world live," he said.
"They have to have a willingness to learn and we really have looked for people who not only welcome a challenge but have some leadership traits because we really hope when they come back they'll be change leaders. And as they mature and settle into what they're doing they will take this experience and advocate for some of the necessary changes in the world."
MacKay, 18, went to school with Sam and kept busy manning The SAM Project booth during Samapalooza. He graduated from Howe Sound Secondary last year and said he's eager to learn and contribute to other parts of the world before continuing post-secondary education. He has a particular interest in educating and perhaps even getting connected with a medical mission while he is in Africa.
"I just want to leave them with as much knowledge as I can give them to help everyone live a healthier life," he said.
"It's a big thing for us to open our eyes to what goes on over there. I know we read about it but we sort of take it for granted so it's important to have the opportunity to go over there and see everything firsthand and how we can help out."
For more information on The SAM Project visit www.thesamproject.ca.
