Come Together for Band Together

Come Together for Band Together

By Lisa Hummel

Come party the night away and help a good cause as Band Together presents an evening of music to benefit children in medical need. Formed last January on the campus of the Penn State University College of Medicine, Band Together is a charity organization comprised of medical students intent on combining the arts of medicine and song.

“Throughout time, medicine has always been considered an art — the ‘art of medicine’ — and from what I’ve seen, a lot of people who are involved in medicine are also involved in music, that music is a strong part of doctors lives,” said founder Troy Markel. “And I saw, especially today, that music is a popular media for communicating and there’s really no organization out there specifically for musicians to donate to.”

The goal of Band Together is to serve as a middleman of sorts, bringing together all those with an appreciation for music — musicians and music lovers alike — and raising funds at the same time. By holding benefits, such as the upcoming August 26 event at Wanda’s Deck and Beach Club in Mechanicsburg, the organization is able to collect funds and “defer the costs incurred by families for the medical treatment of their children.”

“At the end of every year, according to our by-laws, we’re going to donate 40% of our profits to needy families of the hospitals, we’re not going to donate it directly to the hospital, per se, but our goal is, for example, if a family has a $25,000 bill for the hospitalization of their child and their insurance only covers, say, $20,000 of that, we want to be one of the groups to step in and help with that other $5,000,” explained Markel.

Still considered a student organization, its board of directors would like to someday see Band Together become independent and branch beyond the Central Pennsylvania region and the college grounds.

“Once we get ourselves a little bit more established, we’re going to sit down with [the College’s] social workers and try to determine exactly how these funds are going to be distributed,” Markel continued. “Eventually what we hope to do is spread out and become more of a national organization, where we have a branch in each medical school in the area, maybe even the country. We definitely want this to be a medical student-run charity, and that, I think, is the unique thing about it — not only that it is a charity like this for musicians to be a part of, but also that it is run by medical students.”

Band Together’s first major event will take be the August 26 concert at Wanda’s. Featuring the sounds of Seep, Nevermoure, Clove, and Negative Space, the benefit will kick off at 8 p.m. and run for the remainder of the evening. For one, Markel guarantees a good time. “I don’t think our organization is like other charity organizations where you just donate money. I think you’re going to get something for your money — rather than going to the club and paying a $5 cover that goes in somebody’s pocket, the money instead is going to charity,” he said. “I think people are going to be able to go out and have a good time, hear four really good bands, and feel good that their money is going someplace for the entertainment that they’re receive.”

The Band Together benefit will take place August 26 at 8 p.m. at Wanda’s Deck and Beach Club in Mechanicsburg. Admission is $5.