MTV may portray college students as only caring about how many drinks they had last Saturday and how to ace their exams without really studying. Fortunately for us so-called slackers, there are a lot of groups out there to debunk those over generalized statements and set the record straight.
Camp Wildcat, a student-run, nonprofit organization, plans three trips a semester for underprivileged children from around the region to go to camp. The group will take anywhere from 40 to 60 children for a weekend of fun to local sites including Mount Lemmon and Coronado National Forest.
In order to offset the costs of these camps, the group is bringing together three local bands to put on a benefit concert in order to support their expenses.
"The camps are really expensive for all the supplies needed for both counselors and kids," said Anca Niculescu, Spanish literature senior and member of Camp Wildcat.
Niculescu said the cost for a weekend trip ranges from $1,000 to $2,000.
The organization does various fundraisers throughout the year in order to come up with the funds, particularly a huge auction in the spring. The group is adding some new flavor, however, to their fall fundraising events with this concert.
"It's not hard to plan because lots of musicians are really willing to play for causes like this," Niculescu said. "This sort of event could be repeated in the future."
It is good to hear that not all musicians are out only for fame and glory, and Niculescu also had some advantages in lining up the bands.
"This sounds silly, but I'm actually friends with all of them," Niculescu said.
And the bands sound more than eager to lend a helping hand.
"They (Camp Wildcat) could ask us to do anything and we'd do it at a drop of a hat," said Jon D'Auria, bassist for Camp Courageous, one of the three bands performing.
Camp Courageous is no stranger either to doing benefit concerts such as this one. The band has done shows for AIDS and cancer charities and most recently, Hurricane Katrina victims.
"We're tremendously giving people - money is just not applicable to us," D'Auria said.
Camp Courageous has been successful in bringing in money for benefit concerts because they have had some time to put their name out there and gain a fan base. The boys came together on a whim back in 2002.
"We were really just best friends, then we got into college and it was like, 'let's play music,'" D'Auria said.
The band does many shows locally and in Phoenix but has won the love of crowds in California as well with what D'Auria describes as a unique sound.
"We like to call it postmodern rock," he said.
Camp Courageous will be playing with Joint Custody and Plastic Arts, also both local groups, for the benefit concert.
"Plastic Arts is a brilliant singer and songwriter," D'Auria said, "and we're excited to perform with Joint Custody, we've never done anything with them before."
The Camp Wildcat benefit concert is tomorrow at Scrappy's, 201 E. Broadway Blvd. Doors open at 7 p.m. and the all-ages concert begins at 8 p.m. Tickets are $5.