 "Photo: Mitch Ramos / UCD Advocate")
When UC Denver senior Olynda Mileon first heard about the earthquake in Haiti, she didn’t realize the full magnitude of the devastation.
“My first reaction to the earthquake was that it will be like any minor earthquake you hear of in the U.S. I was concerned to learn where the earthquake was, and if my friends and family were OK,” she said.
As soon as photos started pouring in, Mileon (who is from Saint Michel, Haiti) realized the damage was far greater than she had anticipated.
“This wasn’t a little earthquake. This was huge. This was the most catastrophic event to happen in Haiti,” Mileon said. “I was so emotional and distraught. I was just shocked. And for a moment I was speechless and wanted to be sad about the situation. But afterwards, I realized that I couldn’t just be sad, I had to do something.”
While rallying for her cause at the Martin Luther King Jr. Day Parade, Mileon was approached by UCD Associate Professor of English Cate Wiley. Wiley was trying to put together a benefit concert for the victims of the earthquake.
“When Cate came up, I was really excited,” said Mileon. “Any opportunity to help, I am into it. I can’t go to Haiti, but anything I can do here to make a difference, I will.”
Wiley echoed Mileon’s sentiment in her reasoning for getting involved.
“I’m a faculty member in the social justice minor at UCD—there are about six of us—and we started to think we should do something,’ Wiley said. “Then we thought, ‘We can do music.’”
So Wiley, Mileon, and other faculty members and students started to put together a benefit concert.
The concert will be at 6 p.m. on Feb. 10 at the Tivoli Turnhalle. Depending on the weather, there may be bands playing in the outdoor amphitheatre outside of the Tivoli before the concert begins.
“I would be very, very pleased if there was a mix of faculty, students, and administration from all three institutions at the concert,” Wiley said.
So who’s going to perform at the concert? Nobody’s talking yet.
“We’ve got a lot of feelers out to some pretty big names,” Wiley said.
“There is also going to be one or two student bands,” Wiley continued. “There are some great Denver and UCD musicians who are willing to give back.”
Tickets to the concert are $5, and all of the proceeds are given to Save the Children, Lambi Fund (a Haiti national group), and Partners in Health—all in support of relief for victims of the earthquake. Other organizations will be represented at the concert to accept donations, including the Red Cross and Colorado Haiti Project.
Said Mileon of the upcoming opportunity to give back, “It is going to take a lot of money and a lot of time to get everything done in Haiti, so I think the benefit concert will really help the situation.”
Contact Cate Wiley if you would like to volunteer your time to help work the concert, or if you would like to donate in any other capacity. Her email is Catherine.Wiley@ucdenver.edu.
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