The Oxfam Jam raises money for Ukraine with 3 concerts at Funk n’ Waffles
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As the war in Ukraine intensifies, the humanitarian toll increases every day. In response, there has been an influx of support for Ukraine from charities eager to give back.
One local charity chapter has decided to raise money for the cause through its fundraising event: the Oxfam Jam.
On Thursday, Funk ‘n Waffles, a popular host of concerts and events in Syracuse, will host the Oxfam Jam, a concert being put on by Oxfam at Syracuse University. The event will take place at 8 p.m. at the downtown diner, with three bands each playing for about an hour. Doors will open at 7 p.m.
Iona Volynets, an SU sophomore and vice president of Oxfam at SU, said that Oxfam at SU hosts service events and lectures on campus to educate students. Oxfam is a global organization that looks to end worldwide poverty and inequality.
“(Oxfam is) dedicated to trying to eradicate and alleviate poverty and inequality across the world,” Volynets said. “It’s a combination of like physically providing people with services like food and water and shelter, but also a lot of advocacy.”
Phil Lockitt, an SU sophomore and organization chair of Oxfam at SU, said that the money from ticket sales will be collected as donations for Oxfam. The SU chapter will use the money to help ease hunger in Ukraine and to support other charities Oxfam gives to, Lockitt said.
Leah Poland, an SU senior and secretary-treasurer and community service and outreach chair of Oxfam at SU, said that the global charity has a lot of helpful services to help raise funds for their organization.
“Oxfam, as an organization, they have these different events that chapters around the country will do,” Poland said. “Oxfam Jam is one of their branded things that they have, so they have resources to teach you how to hold one of these events yourself.”
For the SU chapter, this year’s Oxfam Jam will be the first since 2019 and the first that all members of the executive board will be going to, Poland said.
Three bands from SU will be performing at the show: Liv For Now, Studio89 and Fazoogie. This will be Fazoogie’s first public performance, but band member and SU sophomore Dylan Fox said that when the opportunity was presented to him and his friends, they couldn’t turn it down.
“Leah told me about the opportunity. And once I told my roommates about it, we were like, ‘Well, why don’t we just put something together?’” said Fox, who is on vocals for the band. “And so we did.”
Fazoogie describes themselves as a band that is attempting to revive the sounds of the ’60s, ’70s and ’80s. As of right now, all of their music is classic covers that “everybody loves,” Fox said.
Along with Fox, four other members of the band will be performing, including his roommates Jared Rowland, who plays bass, and Jesse Herman, who plays lead guitar. The other two members of their band are Grady Collingbourne, who plays drums, and Julian Weinstock, who is on piano.
Fazoogie will be playing the show for free, showing their interest in both giving back to the community and getting themselves some recognition, Fox said.
“I think it says something about us that the first show we’re doing, we’re not making any money from this,” Fox said. “It’s not for the money, right? It’s to bring people together.”
Tickets for the event will be sold for $3 at the doors of Funk ’n Waffles. Rowland said that along with aiding Oxfam, playing at Funk ’n Waffles is also an honor.
“It’s a crazy place to start because when I started playing here last semester, you know, I was playing in … house shows, and playing at Funk ‘n Waffles was the grand spectacle,” Rowland said. “It’s just crazy to right off the bat be playing at Funk ‘n Waffles. You’re at a venue that all the bands want to play, and I think that’s a cool start.”
While their music will be going to help a significant cause, Fox and the rest of Fazoogie are just looking forward to playing their music for the crowd.
“We’re doing it to bring people together, to get people to listen to good music and support a good cause,” Fox said.
