By Pam Creech
Contributing Writer
Friday, Oct. 17, Perry DeLuke, a University of North Carolina Wilmington senior, and local rock band The Schoolboys, which is comprised of five UNCW faculty members, will join forces by performing the eighth annual Rock for a Cure. All proceeds from the concert, which will take place at 6 p.m. at Reel Cafe in downtown Wilmington, will benefit the Pink Ribbon Project, providing local women who don’t have medical insurance with mammography screenings.
Each year, the concert is organized by the UNCW Communications Studies Society. Jennifer Chin, Communications Studies Society faculty advisor, explained the annual concert began in 2007 and raised $900.
“One of my students was an intern at NHRMC,” Chin said. “She wanted to raise money for breast cancer patients.”
Chin and four communications studies students — Kelsey McDaniel, Karina Villalobos, Taylor Waddell and Jamie Walton — planned the 2014 event, which includes a concert, raffle and silent auction. Among the prizes are an Islands gift card, a Port City Java goodie basket, three autographed Scotty McCreery CDs, cornhole boards and a football helmet autographed by Carolina Panthers’ tight end Greg Olsen.
Chin said some students think raising money for a problem as large as breast cancer is a daunting task, at first.
“For people who think they can’t make a difference, they can; they just have to pull together,” she said.
Chin said students learn about event coordinating and public relations by designing T-shirts and contacting potential sponsors.
“It really is an applied learning event,” Chin said. “I teach PR classes.”
Chin also enjoys watching her fellow com studies professors perform.
“My colleagues make up three out of the five in the band,” she said.
The 2013 show, which raised more than $5,000, featured the Sea Belles, a UNCW female a cappella group, and The Schoolboys — Bill Bolduc, Bill DiNome, James Hunt, Rick Olsen and Frank Trimble.
“This will be my fifth time,” said DiNome, the band’s bassist. “There’s a lot of positive energy surrounding it. Being on the roof is really cool — it’s unique.” DiNome looks forward to playing on the roof again, weather permitting.
The Schoolboys, who mainly play rock, will cover Joe Cocker’s “With a Little Help from my Friends” and U2’s “Desire,” along with other classic hits.
“It’s probably our favorite gig to do all year,” DiNome said. “We just feel good about doing it.”
Tickets are $5 at the door. To learn more about Rock for a Cure or the Pink Ribbon project, visit www.uncw.edu/rockforacure or
www.nhrmc.org/pinkribbon
