McKendree University to Hold Pop-Up Concert April 4 to Benefit Earthquake Victims

(LEBANON, Ill., March 24, 2023) – McKendree University will be hosting a student-led pop-up concert on Tuesday, April 4 at 4 p.m. at Bothwell Chapel on campus. The event is free and the public is welcome to attend.

The concert will feature contemporary Christian music by senior Elizabeth Durbin, a music education major from Taylorville, Ill., along with chaplain interns and others. Participating chaplain interns include: first-year student Bryce Young, a history education major from West Jordan, Utah; junior Christopher Durbin, a religious studies major from Taylorville, Ill.; first-year student Christopher Ofosuhene, a computer information systems major from Ghana; senior Emmanuel Segbedzi, a computer science major from Accra, Ghana; junior Gwen Southerd, a psychology major from Mt. Vernon, Ill.; first-year student Oscar Jimenez de Las Heras, a chemistry major from Boadilla Del Monte, Spain; and junior Samantha Elling, a music education major from Breese, Ill.

While the event is free, monetary donations of all sizes are welcome and encouraged. Funds raised will go toward helping the victims from the Turkey-Syrian earthquakes. Monetary donations may also be dropped off at the Rev. Dr. Beverly Wilkes-Null’s office in Bothwell Chapel.

“We invite the campus community and the community at large to come together for this event and be difference-makers. Please think globally and give locally,” said. Rev. Dr. Wilkes-Null.

On February 6, a 7.8 magnitude earthquake rocked southeast Turkey near the Syrian border, with thousands of aftershocks rumbling across the region, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). This was the most powerful earthquake to strike the area in more than 20 years. On February 20, a 6.3 magnitude earthquake struck Hatay, a southern Turkish province near the Syrian border, causing more damage and killing three people. The combined death toll has surpassed 53,000 with more than 850,000 children displaced in Turkey and Syria. Currently, over 1.9 million people are seeking shelter in tents and temporary shelters in Turkey and 500,000 in Syria are homeless.

For more information or to make a donation, please contact Rev. Dr. Wilkes-Null at (618) 537-6962 or blwilkes-null@mckendree.edu.

 

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