Buffalo's Larkinville neighborhood will be bustling with the blues Wednesday evening in support of local veterans and some of the local organizations that work with them.
Buffalo Blues Benefit For Veterans will begin at 5 p.m. at KeyBank Live at Larkin. Headlining the concert are musicians Dave Constantino, Bob James, Jim Wynne and Howard Wilson, as well as newer artists Hayden Fogle and Tina Williams.
James is one of the organizers and works as an independent social worker. He says proceeds from the event are expected to boost the total raised by the project, founded in 2016, to more than $25,000.
"We're there not only to honor the veterans through the donations we're raising, but to really draw attention to some of the critical veteran agencies that are doing boots-on-the-ground kind of work in Buffalo," James said. "Like Veterans One Stop Center, Western New York Law Center which helps veterans with legal needs, the Mentoring Program which is part of Buffalo Treatment Court and also Veterans Housing Coalition, which we've been supporting for over two years now."
James says proceeds from the sales of CDs, clothing and related merchandise will go entirely to the organizations. The cost of producing the merchandise, he explained, was produced through sponsorships.
Since it launched in November 2016, approximately 200 local musicians have held more than two dozen concerts to benefit the cause.
Earlier this week, Mayor Byron Brown announced the launch of Fund4Veterans, a collaboration involving the four agencies benefitting from Wednesday evening's concert.
