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03-26-2004, 07:46 AM
Photocharity helps teens in time of need
By George Varga
UNION-TRIBUNE POP MUSIC CRITIC
March 26, 2004
Rock 'n' roll may not have saved anyone's soul, at least not literally. But it has provided help, and hope, for a growing number of young people in need in San Diego.
Thanks to Photocharity, a nonprofit, music-driven organization founded here in mid-2000 by North County resident Jeffrey Sitcov, $149,000 was raised between 2001 and last year to benefit the Storefront, the Hillcrest-based emergency shelter and outreach program for homeless and runaway kids between the ages of 12 and 17.
That amount could soon double, thanks to signed musical instruments from The Who, recent Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee Jackson Browne, Shania Twain and such rock and blues pioneers as B.B. King, Bo Diddley and Buddy Guy.
Photocharity will stage a benefit concert next Friday night with San Diego roots-music singer Candye Kane at Tio Leo's in Bay Park, before culminating this year's fund-raising drive with the Wells Fargo Concert of Hope at downtown's U.S. Grant Hotel. The April 18 event will feature a music memorabilia raffle and performances by Bay Area guitar slinger Tommy Castro and top San Diego singer-songwriter Eve Selis. All 600 tickets for the benefit sold out in January.
"I told Jeffrey I'd do the concert on one condition, and that is that he give some serious thought to getting a similar charity event going in San Francisco," Castro said.
"Photocharity is a small organization that's gotten incredible results. Jeffrey is just a guy who wanted to make a difference and found some other people who want to make a difference."
And how big a difference has this nonprofit organization of 80 unpaid volunteers made in San Diego, where nearly 2,000 homeless teens are out on the streets on any given night?
"Things have really taken off here because of the Photocharity benefits," said Jan Stankus-Nakano, the center director for the 18-year-old Storefront, a program of San Diego Youth & Community Services.
"The kids have had opportunities they never would have had without Photocharity, from guitar and African drumming lessons to a recent snow-boarding trip. And this year Jeffrey has enabled us to pay for more staff to help the kids learn to be self-sufficient and successful, because they don't have the parental guidance many of us had growing up.
"If three years ago, when we started working together and were hoping to just get enough money to buy breakfast for the kids each day, Jeffrey had said, 'Well, in three years I'll help fund an after-school program for the Storefront,' I would have said, 'Yeah, right.' But he's come through."
The tireless Sitcov and his all-volunteer staff have already raised $118,000 for this year's campaign on behalf of the Storefront.
Among the items to be raffled off at the April benefit are a Kurzweil synthesizer, signed by the current members of The Who, and a "Year of the Blues" guitar, signed by Castro, Solomon Burke, Jimmy Vaughan, Keb' Mo', Tab Benoit, Susan Tedeschi and Jonny Lang. Raffle tickets, priced at $10 each or three for $20, are available by calling: (619) 235-0300 or (619) 440-2277.
But some of the most coveted items in this year's fund-raiser have already been purchased through the ongoing pre-sale on Photocharity's Web site (www.photocharity.com).
"People pay a lot more than the items are worth, because they want to make a difference," said Sitcov, who proudly notes that Photocharity's number of corporate sponsors has jumped to 75, up from 45 last year.
"I was shocked when Jeffrey told me the number of homeless teens in our community," said Chuck Lemoine, a senior vice president for Wells Fargo and the bank's director of public relations in Southern California. "His passion is obvious, and we wanted to do anything we could to help. He's exceeded expectations year after year."
Sitcov, 46, is eager to expand Photocharity's reach to San Francisco, as per Castro's request. But that's just one of his goals.
"The most I'd like Photocharity to accomplish is to do a benefit concert at Coors Amphitheatre within four years, be on 'The Oprah Winfrey Show' within 12 months and to have an influence on helping homeless kids around the world," Sitcov said.
"The least is that we continue to make a significant difference for our community's homeless teens."
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/features/20040326-9999-news_1c26guitar.html
By George Varga
UNION-TRIBUNE POP MUSIC CRITIC
March 26, 2004
Rock 'n' roll may not have saved anyone's soul, at least not literally. But it has provided help, and hope, for a growing number of young people in need in San Diego.
Thanks to Photocharity, a nonprofit, music-driven organization founded here in mid-2000 by North County resident Jeffrey Sitcov, $149,000 was raised between 2001 and last year to benefit the Storefront, the Hillcrest-based emergency shelter and outreach program for homeless and runaway kids between the ages of 12 and 17.
That amount could soon double, thanks to signed musical instruments from The Who, recent Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee Jackson Browne, Shania Twain and such rock and blues pioneers as B.B. King, Bo Diddley and Buddy Guy.
Photocharity will stage a benefit concert next Friday night with San Diego roots-music singer Candye Kane at Tio Leo's in Bay Park, before culminating this year's fund-raising drive with the Wells Fargo Concert of Hope at downtown's U.S. Grant Hotel. The April 18 event will feature a music memorabilia raffle and performances by Bay Area guitar slinger Tommy Castro and top San Diego singer-songwriter Eve Selis. All 600 tickets for the benefit sold out in January.
"I told Jeffrey I'd do the concert on one condition, and that is that he give some serious thought to getting a similar charity event going in San Francisco," Castro said.
"Photocharity is a small organization that's gotten incredible results. Jeffrey is just a guy who wanted to make a difference and found some other people who want to make a difference."
And how big a difference has this nonprofit organization of 80 unpaid volunteers made in San Diego, where nearly 2,000 homeless teens are out on the streets on any given night?
"Things have really taken off here because of the Photocharity benefits," said Jan Stankus-Nakano, the center director for the 18-year-old Storefront, a program of San Diego Youth & Community Services.
"The kids have had opportunities they never would have had without Photocharity, from guitar and African drumming lessons to a recent snow-boarding trip. And this year Jeffrey has enabled us to pay for more staff to help the kids learn to be self-sufficient and successful, because they don't have the parental guidance many of us had growing up.
"If three years ago, when we started working together and were hoping to just get enough money to buy breakfast for the kids each day, Jeffrey had said, 'Well, in three years I'll help fund an after-school program for the Storefront,' I would have said, 'Yeah, right.' But he's come through."
The tireless Sitcov and his all-volunteer staff have already raised $118,000 for this year's campaign on behalf of the Storefront.
Among the items to be raffled off at the April benefit are a Kurzweil synthesizer, signed by the current members of The Who, and a "Year of the Blues" guitar, signed by Castro, Solomon Burke, Jimmy Vaughan, Keb' Mo', Tab Benoit, Susan Tedeschi and Jonny Lang. Raffle tickets, priced at $10 each or three for $20, are available by calling: (619) 235-0300 or (619) 440-2277.
But some of the most coveted items in this year's fund-raiser have already been purchased through the ongoing pre-sale on Photocharity's Web site (www.photocharity.com).
"People pay a lot more than the items are worth, because they want to make a difference," said Sitcov, who proudly notes that Photocharity's number of corporate sponsors has jumped to 75, up from 45 last year.
"I was shocked when Jeffrey told me the number of homeless teens in our community," said Chuck Lemoine, a senior vice president for Wells Fargo and the bank's director of public relations in Southern California. "His passion is obvious, and we wanted to do anything we could to help. He's exceeded expectations year after year."
Sitcov, 46, is eager to expand Photocharity's reach to San Francisco, as per Castro's request. But that's just one of his goals.
"The most I'd like Photocharity to accomplish is to do a benefit concert at Coors Amphitheatre within four years, be on 'The Oprah Winfrey Show' within 12 months and to have an influence on helping homeless kids around the world," Sitcov said.
"The least is that we continue to make a significant difference for our community's homeless teens."
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/features/20040326-9999-news_1c26guitar.html