Benefit Concert For Girls Inc.

Performers: Laurie Lewis and Tom Rozum with Bean Creek

On Saturday March 12, Girls Inc. of the Central Coast is hosting a benefit concert at Kuumbwa Jazz Center to raise funds to expand its programs in Santa Cruz County. The organization’s programs are focused on leadership and self-empowerment for girls ages 8 to 18. They transform the lives of girls by inspiring them to make healthy choices and to pursue a college education.

Preeminent bluegrass and Americana musicians Laurie Lewis and Tom Rozum are perfect headliners for this event. Their latest release, “The Hazel and Alice Sessions,” delves into the repertoire of Hazel Dickens and Alice Gerrard, two trailblazing women of bluegrass music.

“Hazel and Alice were the first women I heard on recordings singing and playing bluegrass music in the style of their male counterparts, such as Ralph Stanley, Bill Monroe and Flats and Scruggs,” Lewis says.

Opening for Laurie Lewis and Tom Rozum is Bean Creek, the local bluegrass band that captured this year’s Northern California Bluegrass Society’s award for Best Male Vocalist, with Billy Pitrone, on guitar and vocals, Sarah Eblen on bass and vocals, Rob Horgan on banjo, and Peter Hicks on mandolin, fiddle and vocals.

Girls Inc. of the Central Coast has had great success with its programs for girls in Monterey County for the past 16 years. This concert is part of a local effort to bring the programs into Santa Cruz County. For more information about the organization, please visit www.girlsinccc.org.

Girls Inc. of Central Coast is a 501(c)(3) organization that has served the Monterey County community since 1999. In 2011,they began serving girls from San Benito County. Girls Inc. of the Central Coast now serves over 1,200 girls in 28 schools in 7 cities in Monterey and San Benito Counties. In the fall of 2015,they expanded our programs to Santa Cruz County. Our ECHO Leadership program is now at Pajaro Valley High School where 28 girls are enrolled in this powerful 1-year program. They are currently raising funds to expand our programs to other school sites in Santa Cruz County. All programs are conducted after school at school sites.

The Mission: To inspire all girls to be Strong, Smart, and Bold™ and to respect themselves and the world around them. The Vision: Empowered girls achieving success in a complex and diverse world.

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Girls Inc. of the Central Coast® is an affiliate of Girls Incorporated, a national organization that has been providing programs for girls since 1864 in the United States and Canada. As an affiliate of the national organization, Girls Inc. of the Central Coast is part of a national network of girl-serving organizations that deliver innovative, research-based programs designed specifically to address the strengths and needs of girls ages 8 through 18 and to prepare them for economic independence and confident adulthood.