With Arms Open Wide benefit concert at the Rose Bowl

The Slavic Reference Service at the University of Illinois will be hosting a benefit concert on Saturday at the Rose Bowl Tavern in downtown Urbana.

Starting at 1pm, the concert will feature local bands from a wide range of styles and genres for three and a half hours. Admission is free.

The event is a collaboration with Doctors Without Borders (DWB). DWB provides medical aid to people around the globe whose well-being and survival are threatened daily by conflict and catastrophe.

As the war in Ukraine continues to drag on, DWB has been on the ground providing humanitarian assistance. Their efforts led to a specially designed medical train such as the one on April 26 that transported patients from Zaporizhzhia and Dnipro to hospitals in Ivano-Frankivsk and Lviv.

"The “With Arms Wide Open - Give Across Borders” campaign aims to raise $50,000 to aid DWB’s work in Ukraine, Afghanistan, Yemen, and other conflict zones," says event organizer Olga Markarova-Bowman. "Any amount able to be contributed is greatly appreciated and will be used to provide urgent medical care, treatment for malnutrition, emergency surgery, and vaccinations to those in need."

For more information on about the fundraising campaign, please visit the official campaign website.