Safe Passage benefit features singer

FROM STAFF REPORTS

June 21, 2009 07:25 am

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TRAVERSE CITY -- Safe Passage is celebrating 10 years of helping children living in the Guatemala City Dump and the local affiliate is hosting a benefit concert June 26.

The local show, sponsored by Great Lakes Friends of Safe Passage, kicks off a series of shows around the world featuring Colombian singer-songwriter Marta Gomez.

The Great Lakes Friends group has raised more than $100,000 in the past three years, according to member Rob Turney. Money helps with everything from basic toiletries to education. Many members of the local group -- one of 12 in the U.S. -- have traveled to Guatemala City with stays ranging from a few days to more than a year.

Gomez has been making appearances worldwide in support of her new album, "Musiquita." She's released four other albums, full of music that mixes a variety of Latin American influences, from bouncy Caribbean to indigenous folk music. She's composed more than 70 songs and has performed with Bonnie Raitt, John Mayer, Totó la Momposina and Mercedes Sosa.

In 2003, Gomez's song "Paula Ausente," based on the book "Paula" by Isabel Allende, won the The SIBL Project International songwriting contest as the best song inspired by a South American book.

The concert is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Tickets are $40, with a limited number available on a first-come, first-served basis for students and children. Call 590-6072 or e-mail greatlakesfriends@safepassage.org for reservations.

There will be a wine and cheese reception, a brief presentation about Safe Passage by Barbara Nijhuis, executive director, and an auction of five items, including a trip for two to Guatemala and a week's stay in a home in Antigua. The evening will end with a birthday cake, piñata and other goodies.