Jimmy Wayne - Cleveland Rutherford Kidney Association / Benefit Concert Review
Contributed by Lynne M. Poyant
Used by permission
Cherish Wilson of The Shelby Star had it right when she said, "Jimmy Wayne wasn't the only special guest at his benefit concert for the Cleveland Rutherford Kidney Association (CRKA). In fact, there were more than 1,000 special guests."
Jimmy Wayne's North Carolina homecoming was truly an event. His fans worked on a project called "Cheeks in Seats" that paid for 1,053 children from foster and group homes to attend the concert. It was an amazing event on many levels. The mix of music appealed to a wide variety of tastes from opening act Brian Burgess, who provided a solo acoustic performance, to hip hop Christian Artist Verbs, who got the crowd warmed up for Jimmy Wayne and his six piece band. Gardner-Webb University was definitely rockin'.
May 24, 2007
Fans also provided support by donating food supplies for CRKA's kidney patients and backpacks filled with some much need supplies for the youth in care. One fan purchased a "Meet and Greet" package and donated to it a child from a group home through an essay contest on Jimmy's message of the "Power of One".
Jimmy Wayne - the man, the music, the message - through a SPECIAL event - provided a positive message to kids who really needed to hear it while helping kidney patients in Cleveland and Rutherford counties.
CRKA presented Jimmy Wayne with their President's Award as last year's benefit concert raised over $20,000. This year's event is sure to match that number. In accepting the award, Jimmy Wayne said a passionate thank you to the fans who had traveled from all over the country (including California, Oregon, Ohio, Virginia, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Massachusetts to name a few) to participate in the event and to those who couldn't who purchased "Cheeks in Seats". During one part of the program, Jimmy introduced two inmates from the "Think Smart" program to talk about choices that young people make and the wrong decisions that they had made in their lives that put them behind bars. That very program - "Think Smart" - was instrumental in Jimmy's young life.
