Community

East End Kids to host its first concert event Sunday

Find yourself rocking out to music from The Monkees during your drive to work? Or maybe you’ve been caught belting Cheap Trick songs in the shower? If so, an upcoming fundraiser for East End Kids is the event is for you. 

On Sunday, Dec. 13, the cover band 45 RPM will perform at the Southold School auditorium. All proceeds from the event — which costs $40 per person — will go back to East End Kids to be used for future programs.

The organization, founded in 1998, is a 501c3 that focuses on providing additional educational opportunities outside school for students in districts as far east as Orient and as far west as Riverhead.

In the past, the organization has sponsored numerous S.T.E.M. programs, financial literacy classes, robotics classes, mother-daughter Claymation workshops, summer camps and more for North Fork children at local libraries and the Southold Town Recreation Center.

East End Kids CEO and founder Jean Wells said it was the organization’s close ties to the community that led her to switch to a concert this year.

“We’ve been here for a long time,” Ms. Wells said. “Knowing the people in the area and community … and given the demographics, we thought this band would be [great]. We just wanted to get everybody out to a location in their backyard.”

Ms. Wells already has plans for the proceeds from the upcoming concert, which can accommodate approximately 500 people. She’s working on establishing a summer farming camp with Sang Lee Farms, extending the current robotics program, linking literature to hands-on opportunities and expanding the financial literacy classes.

“We never charge for kids [to participate], except to cover materials fees,” Ms. Wells said of the organization’s programs. “We’ve never had a shortage of kids or students that want to be involved.”

You can get tickets by emailing [email protected] or calling Ms. Wells at (631) 477-1413. Tickets can also be purchased at the door for no additional charge.

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