For any of you following the devastating situation regarding the drought in Somalia, the news is still bleak.
Somalia has been experiencing the most severe food crisis in African history. About 3.6 million people in the country are at risk of starvation, accounting for half of its population. More than half of all Somali children are undernourished, with six infants dying from malnutrition every day. Read more...
Once thriving families have been trying to stick out years of drought that has dried up their crops, killed their livestock, and slowly driven them out of their homes. They walk for days without food or water, hoping to make it to the already over crowded refugee camps.
Although militants finally lifted the ban it had placed on foreign relief agencies, aid is difficult to get in. It BREAKS our hearts to see what these families are going through, with headlines like, "I Carried Him a Whole Day While He Was Dead, Thinking He Was Alive"- read more.
We're trying to get creative in how we can help while we do some of the regular things we already had coming up this week. This Friday, August 19, Beggar and the Pen is playing at the House of Blues. We've got FREE tickets, and for every ticket that comes in, we will get a dollar. We'll put together all the bucks and add it to what we're donating to the crisis. A little can go a long way! Email me at Tkinnaman @ gmail for tickets to be left at will call for you for Friday night. For more info on that show, click here.
If you like the music, please buy a CD at the show, for 5 bucks you can get some new music, and 100% of the money will also be donated. We're doing some major research before deciding what organization to give the money to, so stay tuned for more details on that.
If you're looking for something a little more diverse to do, check out Beggar and the Pen at the next San Diego Raw Artist event, Thursday August 25th. Tickets are $10, buy them here. We'll be selling our benefit CD's there as well, and you can get out and enjoy some local fashion, art, photography, music, and more. Buy tickets or read more about that event here and select Beggar and the Pen as the artist.
I know there are many things in our own back yard that need attention, but this is a CRISIS. Thanks everyone, do what you want, do what you can, but please, just do something. . .
Thank you to Brian Kinnaman for drawing our cover art for this very special benefit CD.
