HOOTIE and f.y.e. RAISE OVER $65,000 CASH and FILL OVER 47
BUS LOADS OF SCHOOL SUPPLIES FOR 'BACK TO SCHOOL'
Homegrown Concert Series in conjunction with f.y.e. raises
awareness, supplies, and money for over 25 school districts
nationwide
Nashville, TN) -- Hootie & The Blowfish have hit another career
milestone that surpasses record sales to thousands of children
across the nation with the sixth annual Homegrown Concert
Series. When the tour wrapped on Friday, August 15th in
Charleston, South Carolina, the band was presented a $65,000
check from f.y.e. for your entertainment, celebrating the two month
fundraising efforts associated with the tour.
In addition to the in-store f.y.e. campaign for kids, the Homegrown
Concert Series proved to be a success filling over 47 school buses
to date with much needed supplies, over $225,000 worth of school
supplies donated.
"In the past we've just encouraged fans to bring supplies with them
to the shows to donate," says Darius Rucker. "This year, f.y.e.
joined our efforts and we were able to raise funds in addition to just
school supplies nationwide."
f.y.e. featured Hootie & The Blowfish displays in over 800 stores
nationwide offering patrons a chance to donate $1 as well as
register to win a fly-away trip to see the band in their hometown of
Charleston.
The money will be distributed among the school districts
associated with the Homegrown Tour--25 markets total.
'We are so honored that we were able to support the great work that
the Hootie & The Blowfish Foundation is doing," says Matt Williams,
Marketing Manager Events and Sponsorships for f.y.e. "Through the
generosity of our store associates and our customers, we were
able to raise $65,000 to help our nation's most valuable resources;
our children and the schools they attend. We'd like to extend our
thanks to our customers and to Hootie & The Blowfish for helping
us to play a role in this worthy cause."
Since 2003, when the band learned about budget cuts taking place
in education in their home state of South Carolina, Hootie & The
Blowfish established an annual concert in Charleston as a way to
help raise awareness to the needs of local school children in the
community. The night of the concert, ticket holders were asked to
bring school supplies to the concert held at Family Circle Magazine
Stadium. The response was so overwhelming that a 55 seat school
bus was filled from top to bottom with school supplies which were
distributed to the schools and teachers in the Charleston County
School District children who were in most need. Since it's
conception, the band took the idea on the road with The
Homegrown Tour, and to date have filled over 47 school bus loads
worth of school supplies nationwide--roughly $225,000 worth of
needed materials delivered to schools, to date.
For more information, visit www.hootie.com.
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