Miscellaneous - Sweet Relief

  by Admin

published: 4 / 7 / 2012

intro

Our Website of the Month is Sweet Relief, the website of a charity dedicated to helping professional musicians in need of medical and financial care

According to the mission statement of the Sweet Relief Organisation www.sweetrelief.org, "over 65% of professional musicians do not have health insurance." Also, since the 1960s, many musicians have made their living performing pop music, as opposed to more conventional forms, so they find themselves impoverished when they age and can no longer perform. The program was founded by songwriter Victoria Williams in 1993, who had to cut short her touring with Neil Young when she was diagnosed with MS. After friends put together an album of her songs, she donated proceeds to start the organization. Celebrities who support the organization include Ani DiFranco, BB King, Brian Wilson, David Fishoff and Sammy Hagar, but the complete list is substantial. Sweet Relief allows viewers to contribute monies in a number of personalized ways: One option is to allocate funds for a specific musician in need, for example, Jesse Farner, son of former Grand Funk front man, Mark Farner, was paralysed after a bad fall and Cheb I Sabbah was recently diagnosed with stomach cancer. Another option is to donate according to a specific genre and there are many listed including Aboriginal rock, Jersey Shore rock and Philadelphia soul. In other words, the message is donors can "direct their donations to artists that create and perform music within the musical form you are most passionate about." A third option is to contribute directly to artists that are disabled and elderly. The website also updates viewers on fundraisers and about the progress of those who benefit from the donations.