Singer-songwriter and activist Jackson Browne will perform a special benefit concert on November 29 at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium in Santa Monica, CA, to raise funds for ongoing hurricane and disaster relief efforts in Cuba, Haiti and the Texas Gulf Coast.
Proceeds will support additional programs tailored to meet the urgent local needs of families and health facilities throughout all three areas through Operation USA. Other artists joining Browne in performance at the concert will be announced in the coming weeks.
Reserved seats for Jackson Browne & Friends go on sale to the public at 10 a.m. on November 1 at the musician’s official Web site. The $75 ticket price includes all services and facilities fees. A limited number of gold and silver circle tickets, which offer preferred seating, are available through the non-profit organization The Guacamole Fund.
Browne is spearheading the concert as a response to the devastation wrought by Hurricanes Gustav and Ike, which hit Cuba, Haiti and the U.S. Gulf Coast twice within three weeks in late August and early September. Cuba was particularly affected with nearly 440,000 homes damaged (including 68,000 totally destroyed) and almost two million people displaced into temporary shelters. All three areas are in dire need of material and financial aid to help restore safety and provide appropriate healthcare.
Operation USA, a Los Angeles-based humanitarian aid organization that helps people rebuild their lives after man-made or natural disasters, mounted major relief efforts in Cuba, Haiti and Texas immediately following the one-two punch of Gustav and Ike. First response initiatives have included shipment of electric lights and generators to Texas communities to restore power, a grant to Haiti to purchase relief supplies, plans for two million water purification tablets to be sent to Cuba, and a scheduled sea shipment of medical supplies for Cuban hospitals. Operation USA has worked in Cuba under U.S. license for over 15 years, with a focus on children in medical need.
The benefit concert takes place following the completion of U.S. and Japanese legs of Browne’s world tour in support of his new album, “Time the Conqueror.” Browne and his longtime band will tour Australia and Europe in early 2009.
