Battle of the bands raises over $25,000 to help end homelessness in Gainesville

An exhilarating ambiance stuffed The Wooly on Friday night time as about 200 attendees sang and danced whereas native bands rocked out underneath the dim crimson glow of stage lights.

Though the gang was cheering all night time, it roared with pleasure when it was introduced the attendees had raised an all-time excessive of $25,000 to finish homelessness in Gainesville.

Tech Battle of the Bands, an occasion hosted by startGNV and GRACE Marketplace since 2014, marked its return in 2022 after a COVID-induced hiatus since 2019. The annual occasion raises cash for GRACE Market, a non-profit homeless useful resource heart that gives each service wanted to get Gainesville residents out of homelessness, together with meals, shelter and job coaching.

On the occasion, 4 bands – every comprised of native expertise firm staff – carried out and competed to lift cash for the trigger. StartGNV, a non-profit group that helps innovators in Gainesville, arrange this occasion to attach the expertise neighborhood and assist finish homelessness, Vice President Christine Caven mentioned. The occasion additionally raises consciousness concerning the affect of expertise on reasonably priced housing, she mentioned.

“With new tech corporations coming into city and startups going, oftentimes that will increase the likelihood that there might be homelessness,” she mentioned. “With new improvement, individuals get moved round from completely different housing conditions.”

GRACE Market Government Director Jon DeCarmine mentioned expertise corporations convey higher-paying jobs to cities. An abundance of those jobs creates areas of alternative, driving individuals to these areas and consequently elevating hire. On the similar time, it forces others out by the hands of gentrification, he mentioned.

“The native tech neighborhood needs to be proactive,” DeCarmine mentioned. “They perceive that if they will have that type of affect, they need to even be part of an answer to it.”

The $25,000, raised by ticket gross sales and bids on public sale gadgets, goes on to GRACE Market to cowl the prices of meals, housing placements and different primary wants, he mentioned. The group operates about 140 emergency shelter beds, serves 150,000 meals a yr and operates about 40 reasonably priced housing items all through Gainesville, he mentioned.

Tech Battle of the Bands not solely raises cash to finish homelessness, nevertheless it additionally unites Gainesville over its love for music.

Members of the bands performed the whole lot from the keyboard to the cow bell, and performances included songs reminiscent of “Twist and Shout” by The Beatles and “Can’t Cease” by Purple Scorching Chili Peppers.

The 4 bands included musically proficient staff from Infotech, Feathr, IC2 and Gainesville distant employees from DuckDuckGo, Tangram Vision, Elaborate and Zapier. The winner of the battle of the bands was Feathr, a digital advertising firm.

Feathr worker Kaitlyn McGowan, 31, is a retuning attendee who was proud to assist her fellow coworkers and GRACE Market, she mentioned.

“This occasion marries the expertise within the tech neighborhood with elevating consciousness for homelessness,” McGowan mentioned. “It brings this subject to the forefront of the neighborhood.”

The corporate band that closed out the occasion was Infotech, a software program improvement enterprise for street building and consulting agency that has been in Gainesville for over 45 years, Affiliate Vice President of Advertising and marketing and Communications Lacey Jones mentioned. This occasion permits expertise corporations to interact in pleasant competitors whereas selling Gainesville as expertise hub, she mentioned.

Jillian Dinius, Infotech band member and the senior expertise specialist of the individuals, tradition and communications group, mentioned charity live shows like Tech Battle of the Bands make the most of music as a result of it’s a common language.

The 33-year-old has been captivated with music since she was a baby and has all the time needed to be in a canopy band, she mentioned. Alternatives just like the battle of the bands permits staff to bond over their shared passions and creates a extra related office, she mentioned.

“It’s been a dream of mine to simply make music and sing,” she mentioned. “However I’ve by no means actually achieved something to work on that. So, is music within the playing cards for me? Perhaps. Is it within the playing cards for me Friday? Sure, it’s.”

Dinius mentioned she could have by no means met 50-year-old Travis Tooke, who does design and improvement for building administration software program at Infotech.

Tooke mentioned the battle of the bands offers him an opportunity to pursue his ardour for music whereas additionally giving again to the neighborhood alongside staff of different Gainesville expertise corporations.

“What aligns fantastically in my very own coronary heart is that we do that by excellence,” he mentioned. “Not as a result of we need to dominate the competitors. You don’t go right into a sport and say, ‘I need to beat down the individual that I’m agreeing to take part with.’”

The ability of music strikes individuals to donate in assist of GRACE Market and evokes compassion in everybody, he mentioned.

“The connection, the empathy and the understanding that you just get from music can encourage,” he mentioned.