Bloomington man raises $3K for Uvalde, Texas school shooting families

Posted on June 3, 2022
Proceeds from the benefit went to the Robb School Memorial Fund. (Photo courtesy: Nightshop/Facebook)

By Blake Haas

BLOOMINGTON – A Bloomington man is giving back to Uvalde, Texas, where 19 students and two adults were gunned down in one of the nation’s deadliest school shootings.

On Thursday, Marcos Mendez organized a fundraiser with 13 music performers at Nightshop in downtown Bloomington.

“It might have happened in Uvalde this time, but it’s happened all over the country for too long now,” he said on the Afternoon Show. “So for us to just come together and say ‘we see you, you’re not alone in your pain,’ we are all suffering as Americans together.”

The benefit, which raised $3,000, featured signers from central Illinois donating their time for the benefit.

“We feel your pain. We can not understand what you are going through. But, what we can do is if there is any burden that you feel or anything that is on your shoulder, just know that there are people here to help you,” said Mendez, who is from Texas.

All of the proceeds from the benefit went to the Robb School Memorial Fund.

Blake Haas can be reached at [email protected].

Blogs

Labor Day – Expanding voting rights for all

By Mike Matejka Because of COVID, there is no Labor Day Parade this year.  It’s always a great event for our everyday workers to march proudly down the street and enjoys the festive crowd. If there had been a parade, this year’s Labor Day theme was to be “150 years of struggle: your right to vote.” …

Is federal mobilization the answer?

By Mike Matejka As President Donald Trump threatens to send federal marshals into Chicago, over the objections of Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, recall another Illinois Governor who protested the incursion of armed federal personnel into the city.   Those federal troops, rather than calming, escalated the situation, leading to deaths and violence. Illinois poet Vachel Lindsay…

In these troubled times, to my fellow white Americans

By Mike Matejka Our nation is at a unique watershed in human relations. African-Americans have been killed too many times in the past before George Floyd, but the response to this man’s death is international and all-encompassing. I was a grade-schooler during the Civil Rights 1960s. I watched Birmingham demonstrators hosed and the Selma – Montgomery…

Workers’ Memorial Day – Remember those whose job took their life

Looking around our community, when we say employer, most will respond to State Farm, Country, or Illinois State University.   We too often forget those who are building our roads, serving our food, or our public employees. COVID-19 has made us more aware of the risk.  Going to work every day for some people means…