www.indianastatesman.com
by Reggie Edwards
The son of country music icon Willie Nelson lent his voice to stopping hunger Wednesday night in Terre Haute.
Lukas Nelson, lead singer of the Promise of the Real, performed at a Catholic Charities benefit at the Verve, 677 Wabash Ave.
Nelson said he was more than happy to perform for the cause.
“I agree with it,” he said. “It is important to do stuff like this because it’s a big issue.”
Nelson said that Verve-owner Connie Wrin saw him playing at Farm-Aid and asked him and his band to come play at the Verve.
“I prefer playing smaller venues,” Nelson said. “Tonight was the best. It was intimate; you get to hang out with the crowd afterwards.”
Nelson also said the band would definitely be coming back to Terre Haute in the future, said John Etling, director of Catholic Charities.
“We are coming back. It is a done deal,” he said.
Etling said as the performance was beginning
there had already been over 200 people in attendance and the projected attendance was approximately 250.
The goal of the night was to raise awareness and highlight the issue of hunger in the world and in the community and his role is to further the mission and also reduce hunger and poverty; to stand up for the oppressed, Etling said.
“We want to make Indiana a hunger-free state,” Etling said. “For as much as we produce in the state with agriculture we shouldn’t have hunger and we definitely shouldn’t have kids going to bed hungry.”
According to the National Alliance to End Homelessness, there are approximately 744,313 people homeless in the United States.
If the issue of hunger does not improve, people could see more tent cities in the near future.
“A tent city is a homeless city and it is the only place homeless people have to go,” Etling said.
ISU students can get involved to help the cause in multiple ways
“Say a prayer,” Etling said. “You can donate time to a soup kitchen, get involved with service clubs, look to faith-based organizations on campus. Sometimes they’re addressing very basic but vital needs like clothing, food, or shelter.”
Most importantly, though, do not look away, he said.
Layla Haidar, a graduate student and professor of Arabic at ISU, said Wednesday night was her first concert.
“It was a new experience for me,” she said. “It was awesome. He is a good musician and he interacted well with the crowd.”
Haidar said she was just passing over midterms and needed something to do.
“It was definitely better than I expected,” she said.
The Verve just opened a Facebook page last week and is already up to over 40 fans. The Verve will soon begin posting upcoming events on Facebook, said David Baker, a promotion company owner and friend to Verve owner Connie Wrin.