(RIDGEWOOD, NJ) -- The non-profit humanitarian organization TEEEM.org presents Bergenfest, a benefit concert run by students that is full of music and fun for the family. TEEEM works with Bergen County high school students to provide medical care, economic empowerment, food and education to communities in in the developing world. Headlining the concert will be Wé McDonald of Paterson, NJ, who drew national attention on NBC's The Voice along with local bands playing throughout the day. Bergenfest will be held at the Benjamin Franklin Middle School, 335 North Van Dien Avenue in Ridgewood NJ on Saturday June 29th, from 12:00pm-7:00pm. There will be food trucks, games, arts and crafts and face painting. It is a day of fun for the whole family.
The bands scheduled to perform throughout the day are Collision Theory, Fat Boi's Brass Band, Wishbone, Jason Recht & Friends, Jake Thistle, No Soap Radio, and Samantha Haase. Wé is currently scheduled to perform at approximately 5:00pm. Check the website www.TEEEM.org for times and updates as new bands may be added as well. William McKee, NHRHS alumnus and student of Jazz Performance and Music Management at William Paterson University is volunteering his services as Musical Director for Bergenfest. The concert is rain or shine. Chairs and pets are not allowed.
Tickets can be purchased online. You can also text Bergen Tix to 41444 to pay via text. If you cannot attend the concert but would like to donate, you can visit the website or text Bergenfest to 41444 to donate. Tickets are $20 per person, $15 for children under 6 and seniors, and $50 for a family of up to six. One hundred percent of all the monies raised at this concert goes to TEEEM sites across the world.
To date, because of the help of the students, TEEEM is proud to announce that over 600 tickets have already been sold.
Singing since the age of 12, Wé McDonald attended the Harlem School for the Arts after school and on weekends, where she studied theater, piano and further cultivated her unique and righteously robust voice. She is a singer as well as songwriter and has been touring internationally and sharing her sultry vocal gift with the world. In 2017, Wé had the opportunity of appearing on the Emmy Award winning PBS Gershwin Awards honoring Legend Tony Bennett and also sang the National Anthem at Yankee Stadium.
Her latest single “If I Didn’t Love You”, was released early 2019 and in Late 2019 her self-titled EP is scheduled to be released featuring a diverse slate of songs written by Wé that showcases her soaring vocal presence. A newly published children’s and young adult book author, Wé released: Make It Happen! Wé McDonald: Singer, part of the Make It Happen! series of books that help middle school students build skills to reach their own goals; and a picture book, The Little Girl with The Big Voice, written by Wé for younger children. Wé’s captivating story as a singer, songwriter and as a teenager courageously embracing her uniqueness resonates with kids as well as adults looking to expand their own understanding of themselves and the world around them.
About TEEEM
TEEEM stands for The Empathic Entrepreneur Equality Mission. This benefit concert is being put together by local high school students who participate in the TEEEM School Program. During the event, there student made films will be shown. In Bergen County, the TEEEM School program is currently active in 7 high schools but hoping to add more. These schools and the countries they provide humanitarian help to are: Ridgewood High School, (Cambodia), Northern Highlands Regional High School (Senegal), Pascack Valley High School (Burkina Faso), Westwood High School (Ethiopia), Bergenfield High School (Peru), Waldwick High School (Kenya) and Hackensack High School (country to be determined). TEEEM empowers students and social entrepreneurs with funding and operational support to become innovative leaders of global nonprofits. TEEEM provides medical care, food, education and economic support, such as by providing micro loans for women wanting to start a business, providing doctors for medical days in rural villages or giving hot meals to students in Africa.
Jarret Schecter, TEEEM Founder states, "TEEEM's vision is to help create a more connected and equal world. We hope that we can move in that direction by giving today's students and tomorrow's global decision makers here in Bergen County, NJ, an opportunity to aid and empower those much less fortunate in other parts of the world."
Abby Hoffert, a student who participates in the TEEEM program at Northern Highlands Regional High School states, "Bergenfest is a really exciting event because it is the culmination of all of our hard work. Not only is it going to be a day filled with music, great food, and fun, but the money we raise is going to make a real difference in the lives of so many people around the world." Ridgewood Student Kaylin Marshall of Ridgewood High School adds, "I love that we can come together as one huge community and raise money for an extremely important cause by having fun and sharing the arts with each other. Overall, Bergenfest is an amazing way to add more beauty to the world through education."
TEEEM's activities and successes are chronicled in a full color book which the students contributed to. Entitled Humanitarians of New Jersey it will be sold at the event. At a cost of $20 the full proceeds from the book can provide up to 200 meals for malnourished children.
TEEEM.org would like to acknowledge its sponsors for Bergenfest. They are Shop Rite/Inserra Supermarkets, Greater Alliance Federal Credit Union, RE/MAX Properties, Wells Fargo.
