R.City to Host Benefit Concert in LA for USVI, BVI

R.City, songwriters/ singers from St. Thomas, V.I.

Islands Elevated will hold a benefit concert to support the long-term recovery in the Caribbean. It will take place Feb. 8th in Los Angeles and be hosted by St. Thomas’ very own R.City, who have written songs and/or recorded with the likes of Akon, Rihanna, Usher, Beyonce, Ciara, Fergie and Adam Levine.

The exclusive event — only 750 tickets will be sold — will host celebrities and social impact players alike. Every effort will be made to ensure that Islands Elevated is environmentally and socially conscientious: use of plastic, such as straws, will be limited; talent transfers will utilize green vehicles; and priority will be given to locally sourced products.

Julius Jackson, St. Thomas’ legendary chef, is supporting Islands Elevated by carefully curating Island cuisine that will be prepared by celebrity chefs. The beneficiaries of the concert are Virgin Unite and My Brother’s Workshop (MBW).

My Brother’s Workshop (MBW) is a non-profit Virgin Islands charitable organization that provides hope, faith and purpose to at-risk and high-risk young people in the U.S.V.I. by offering mentoring, counseling, paid job training, education and job placement. Hurricane relief work has kept the workshops on St. Thomas and St. Croix busy with home repair and rebuilding, but they have also seen a lot of trainees achieving their personal goals this year, which include high school diplomas, job employments, acceptance into college, winning competitions locally like King of the Wing, and learning positive life skills.

In the months following the hurricanes, MBW served 37,353 meals, repaired 280+ homes, removed 65,000 cubic feet of debris from homes distributed over 1,000 care packages and over 300 generators to vulnerable populations, distributed 180 tons of relief supplies and managed 350+ volunteers. The organization is committed to helping rebuild the territory while simultaneously training its youth.

Virgin Unite has carefully considered where it could have the best impact to help people across the British Virgin Islands. The three areas it is supporting are community (largely education), entrepreneurship and the environment. Some of Virgin Unite’s endeavors in the last year, as outlined on Sir Richard Branson’s blog, include:

1. Community and Education: through the rebuilding of schools, using technology to support teachers and students, supporting community/youth/children centers, and building capacity to respond to future natural disasters through disaster risk reduction and preparedness training.

2. Entrepreneurship: through skills-based training programs and a micro
loan/kickstart program.

3. Environment: through supporting the development of renewable energy and recycling initiatives and community debris clean-ups.

Tickets are on sale at www.IslandsElevated.org. To learn more about attending or becoming involved in supporting this event in other ways, please contact hello@islandselevated.org or communications@mybrothersworkshop.org.