In the Media
You’ve Been Snapped – 5th Annual Golf for Teens AT-RISK
The gang at the front desk & some of the event organizing committee, Serva Khalili, Kim Evershed, Kayla Scanlan, Rose Scott & Chelsea Evershed. Photo by Dan Brown.
To date the Drew Hildebrand Teen Benefit Fund has helped more than 30 At-Risk teens with scholarships to college, university and apprenticeship programs and put about 120 kids through their Music and Arts program this year. Many of these kids come from homeless shelters and abusive homes and these opportunities help to give them a fair chance at life. Piper’s Heath Golf Club was the venue for the 5th Annual Golf for Teens AT-RISK benefit tournament in August. The Drew Hildebrand Teen Benefit Fund has been established in the memory of Drew Hildebrand, who died as a victim of teen violence at the age of 16.
Source and more photos: Snap Oakville
Fifth annual Race for Teens At-Risk in Drew’s name
Registration closes tomorrow
Fifth annual Race for Teens At-Risk in Drew’s name
Oakville Beaver file photo
This Sunday (June 9), the fifth annual Race for Teens At-Risk will take place in Coronation Park.
Proceeds will support the Drew Hildebrand Teen Benefit Fund (DHTBF), which has been established in memory of Drew.
It helps “turnaround teens” who have demonstrated initiative in pursuing a better life. Drew was a “turnaround teen.”
“It takes tremendous courage for teens to change. We want to recognize and reward that kind of change — and expand Drew’s scholarship, ‘It Takes Courage to Change,’ in assisting students in their post-secondary education through funding individual scholarships awarded in the amount of $4,000 to Halton and Peel areas’ graduating teens to start,” states the DHTBF website.
“All pledges raised will support DHTBF’s ‘It Takes Courage to Change’ scholarship program for post-secondary education for graduating turnaround teens.
“It will also support After-school Support Programs for Music & The Arts for teens aged 12-18 facing challenges and in financial need in our local communities,” stated a press release.
Organizers ask each person set a personal fundraising goal of $300 to help DHTBF reach its overall goal of $40,000.
Participants will get to choose from a 10-kilometre run, or a 5K run or walk, which will take place at Coronation Park, 1426 Lakeshore Rd. W. The 10K run starts at 8:30 a.m., followed by the 5K run/walk at 8:40 a.m. Onsite registration will run from 7:30-8:15 a.m., followed by a Zumba warm-up. A student bake sale will also be available at 8:30 a.m. Lunch is provided and awards will be handed out. Registration closes at 6 p.m. Friday (June 7).
Organizers are also looking for 75 race day volunteers to join Drew’s Crew to help out in the following areas: registration, park set up, start/finish line, water stations, route marshals, food tent, and bake sale.
“It’s a great way to meet new people, get involved in your community and (for students) earn your volunteer hours,” stated the release.
Those interested in volunteering can e-mail dhtbf@rogers.com.
For more information or to register, visit http://bit.ly/Zj4jad.
Playin’ the blues
The Drew Hildebrand Teen Benefit Fund held a benefit concert and southern barbecue buffet Saturday evening at Country Heritage Park.
The event was in memory of Drew Hildebrand, who died four years ago, and raised roughly $15,000 for troubled youth support programs.
About 250 people attended the concert.
Photos by Steven Der-Garabedian
Drew’s Blues helps give teens a second chance
Drew’s Blues helps give teens a second chance. PLAYING DREW’S BLUES: Two-time Juno Award-winners Fathead, pictured here, and Grammy Award-winner Sugar Blue, named the 2012 Chicago Blues Entertainer of the Year will be the featured entertainment at Saturday’s Drew’s Blues Southern BBQ Benefit Concert.
It takes great perseverance and courage for a troubled youth to turn their life around — and often it can’t be done without a second chance.
That is what the Drew Hildebrand Teen Benefit Fund (DHTBF) offers.
To help more teens turn their lives around, the organization is hosting a fundraiser, the Drew’s Blues Southern BBQ Benefit Concert, Saturday (Nov. 24).
The evening will include a southern barbecue buffet and live entertainment by some successful blues musicians, two-time Juno Award-winners Fathead and Grammy Award-winner Sugar Blue, who was named the 2012 Chicago Blues Entertainer of the Year.
“It’s going to be an amazing night of blues, great food and great company,” said organizer Kim Evershed, Drew’s stepmom and co-founder of the DHTBF.
The charitable organization is named in memory of the Oakville 16-year-old who was a turn-around teen, but died as a result of teen-on-teen violence more than four years ago.
Since Drew’s death, his family, including the Hildebrand, Simmons and Evershed families, have been working together to ensure as many turnaround teens in Halton and Peel regions get the second chance they need.
“This has helped us with the healing and it keeps Drew’s spirit alive every day. It’s never easy, but we feel we’re making a difference in Drew’s memory,” Kim said.
“Supporting teens at risk is important to us, so we want to do as much as we can in his memory.”
Half the proceeds the organization raises goes to the DHTBF’s It Takes Courage to Change Scholarship Fund for post secondary education.
And, since about a year ago, the other half has gone to fund music and arts programming for children aged 12-18 years.
The fund pays to provide free, after-school arts, music, culinary, photography and media lessons to youths who are either at-risk or have a financial need.
Kim said doing arts programming could help youths stay on the right path, and eventually lead them to graduate high school.
Over the years, the DHTBF has been raising scholarship money through golf tournaments and a charity run.
For the first time, the group has added the concert as a fundraiser, which will take place at Gambrel Barn in Country Heritage Park in Milton.
“Drew played guitar and was a music lover so we wanted to create a music event for Drew because of his love of music,” Kim said.
Furthermore, the families wanted to do something different, an event that is original and where both singles and couples could have a good time.
Blues music was chosen because the family members of DHTBF are fans of the genre and of the musicians performing.
Fathead is a Canadian blues and roots band that plays a blend of funk, soul and rockin’ blues.
Sugar Blue spent his childhood among musicians and show people, as his mother was a singer and dancer.
He hooked up with The Rolling Stones and he can be heard on the Stones’ Some Girls album.
The DHTBF formed after Drew’s family members came together, including his father Jay Hildebrand, his mother Crystal Simmons, stepmother Kim Evershed and his siblings Warren Hildebrand, Ryan Evershed and Chelsea Evershed.
The organization’s volunteer board of directors reviews scholarship applications and awards recipients. The organization sends scholarship application forms to nearby youth shelters to ensure every teen has a chance to turn around.
Gambrel Barn is located at 8560 Tremaine Rd. Drew’s Blues begins with a blues lounge at 6:30 p.m., with appetizers and martinis, while the buffet starts at 7:30 p.m., followed by the concert at 8:30 p.m.
Dinner and concert tickets cost $99, with an RSVP deadline by the end of day on Thursday.
Concert tickets cost $49 and a limited number will be sold at the door.
For tickets, visit www.dhtbf.com or call 905-814-1306.
Drew’s Blues supports teens at risk
Drew Hildebrand. Drew's Blues Concert/Southern Barbecue Buffet will be held Nov. 24 in support of The Drew Hildebrand Teen Benefit Fund, which helps teens at risk, and is named for a Mississauga teenager who died four years ago as the result of teen violence. File photo
Tickets are on sale for a charity event being billed by its sponsors as one of Canada’s best blues events of the year.
Drew’s Blues Concert/Southern Barbecue Buffet will be held Nov. 24 at Milton’s Gambrel Barn in Country Heritage Park, 8560 Tremaine Rd.
Proceeds will go to a fund established to honour a Mississauga teenager who died four years ago. The Drew Hildebrand Teen Benefit Fund will host the concert, a charitable event in support of teens at risk and in financial need. It features blues performances from Sugar Blue and Fathead, as well as southern barbecue cuisine at the 7:30 p.m. dinner.
The fund was established to honour Hildebrand, who died April 8, 2008 as a victim of teen violence. Hildebrand, 16 at the time of his death, lived between his two families in Mississauga and Oakville.
Chicago Blues Entertainer of the Year for 2012 and Grammy Award-winning harmonica virtuoso Sugar Blue is not your typical bluesman. He was raised in Harlem, where his mother was a singer and dancer at the fabled Apollo Theatre.
He previously hooked up with The Rolling Stones, who instantly fell in love with his sound. The Stones invited Blue to join them in the studio. He can be heard on the Some Girls album, Emotional Rescue and Tattoo You records by The Stones.
Two-time Juno Award-winner Fathead may be one of the best blues and roots band to come out of Canada. Fathead creates an energetic blend of funk, soul and rockin’ blues.
Money raised will go to the benefit fund’s post-secondary education grant program and for its free music and arts after-school programs for youth aged 12-18.
“It’s very important to us to reward at-risk teens,” said Jay Hildebrand, Drew’s father. “We draw strength from the teens we support and in Drew’s memory we are helping them to pursue a better life.”
“The teens mentioned how motivating they found it to know that an organization like the Drew Hildebrand Teen Benefit Fund was available to them and supporting their quest for a better future,” said Crystal Simmons, Drew’s mother.
Tickets cost $99 (dinner and concert) or $49 (concert only). Concert starts at 8 p.m.
Call 905-814-1306 or visit www.dhtbf.com. Concert-only tickets can be purchased at the door.
Drew’s Blues concert to support teens at risk
Tickets are on sale for what’s being dubbed the year’s best Blues event north of the border.
The Drew Hildebrand Teen Benefit Fund will host Drew’s Blues Concert/Southern Barbecue Buffet on Saturday, Nov. 24 at Country Heritage Park, 8560 Tremaine Rd.
Drew’s Blues, a charitable event in support of teens at risk and in financial need, features blues performances from Sugar Blue and Fathead, plus southern barbecue cuisine at a 7:30 p.m. dinner.
2012 Chicago Blues Entertainer of the Year and Grammy Award-winning harmonica virtuoso Sugar Blue is not your typical bluesman. He was raised in Harlem where his mother was a singer and dancer at the fabled Apollo Theatre.
He spent his childhood among the musicians and show people who knew his mother, including the great Billie Holiday. Sugar Blue incorporates what he has learned into his visionary and singular style, technically dazzling yet wholly soulful.
Blue hooked up with members of the Rolling Stones, who instantly fell in love with his sound. The Stones invited Blue to join them in the studio where he can be heard on the Some Girls album, Emotional Rescue and Tattoo You. He bends, shakes, spills flurries of notes with simultaneous precision and abandon, combining dazzling technique with smoldering expressiveness.
Two-time Juno Award winners Fathead may be one of the best blues and roots band to come out of Canada. Fathead creates an energetic blend of funk, soul and rockin’ blues.
Money raised by Drew’s Blues will go to Drew Hildebrand Teen Benefit Fund to cover costs associated with post secondary education and for its music and arts, free after-school programs for youth 12 to 18 years old.
“It’s very important to us to reward at-risk teens,” said Jay Hildebrand, Drew’s father. “We draw strength from the teens we support, and in Drew’s memory we are helping them to pursue a better life.”
“The teens mentioned how motivating they found it to know that an organization like the Drew Hildebrand Teen Benefit Fund was available to them and supporting their quest for a better future,” said Crystal Simmons, Drew’s mother.
The $99 tickets, which includes dinner and concert or $49 concert-only ticket at 8 p.m., are available at (905) 814-1306 or online at www.dhtbf.com. Concert-only tickets can also be purchased at the door.
You’ve been SNAP’d!
Participants of all ages raised more than $20,000 at the 4th Annual Drew Hildebrand Race for Teens at Risk on Sunday June 10th. The event included a 10km run or 5km run/walk through the glorious trails near Coronation Park in Oakville. All proceeds raised…Read More…
DHTBF offers free art and music to teens in need
OAKVILLE BEAVER – This spring the Drew Hildebrand Teen Benefit Fund (DHTBF) is providing free art workshops and music lessons to high school aged students who need it most.
http://www.insidehalton.com/news/article/1326712–dhtbf-offers-free-art-and-music-to-teens-in-need
Free art lessons offered
The Drew Hildebrand Teen Benefit Fund is providing free art workshops for at-risk teens in financial need.
http://www.mississauga.com/what’s on/article/1326980–free-art-lessons-offered
Drew Hildebrand 5K Walk, Run, Skateboard
The 3rd Annual Drew Hildebrand 5K Walk, Run, Skateboard took place on Sunday June 5th in lower Bronte Oakville. The walk began at Coronation Park and went East on Lakeshore into the downtown Bronte area, from there, walkers circled around Fisherman’s Warf park and then headed back to Coronation Park. The walk was a huge success with the help of many dedicated volunteers who were nicknamed “Drew’s Crew”. After the walk there was a BBQ lunch and music courtesy of local Oakville talent. All proceeds from the walk went to support at risk teens in our local communities and raise awareness to end teen on teen violence.
