100% of Funds from Band Together Bay Area Concert Tickets & Tipping Point Community Donors Goes to Organizations Supporting Low-Income Communities Impacted by North Bay Fires
SAN FRANCISCO (November 10, 2017) — Today, Tipping Point announced $23 million has been raised for low-income communities hit hardest by the North Bay fires. Last night’s Band Together Bay Area concert raised $17 million through ticket sales, sponsorships and online donations. Prior to the concert, $6 million had been raised to launch the Emergency Relief Fund through Tipping Point Community donors.
In response to the North Bay firestorm — the most destructive and deadliest firestorm disaster in California history — a coalition of Bay Area business and community leaders formed Band Together Bay Area to support long-term recovery efforts in the region. Launched by founding sponsors, Salesforce, Twilio, Google, Kaiser Permanente, the San Francisco Giants, Another Planet Entertainment and Live Nation, an additional 60 organizations have signed on to support the effort.
Last night’s sold-out Band Together Bay Area concert, featuring Metallica, Dead & Company, Dave Matthews & Tim Reynolds, G-Eazy, Rancid and Raphael Saadiq brought together nearly 40,000 people at AT&T Park and hundreds of thousands of viewers through livestreaming on YouTube, Facebook and Twitter. 100% of the ticket sales went to the Tipping Point Emergency Relief Fund, to address urgent needs in the North Bay, such as temporary housing, food, education and healthcare services, as well as rebuilding efforts. 6,500 of the best seats in the house were donated to first responders, volunteers and families impacted by the firestorm for an evening of solidarity, respite and hope.
In addition to the six musical acts, all of which had Bay Area ties, the evening featured local heroes who were deeply impacted by the devastating tragedy. They were joined onstage by local celebrities and athletes including Olympic gold medalist, Natalie Coughlin, San Francisco Giants’ Buster Posey, San Francisco 49ers legend, Joe Montana, and San Francisco Giants legend Barry Bonds. The voice of the San Francisco Giants, Renel Brooks-Moon, emceed the event and introduced the following local heroes throughout the evening:
- The Badaracco Family — Forest Badaracco and 13-year old son, Nikkos knocked on neighbors’ doors to alert them to the fire, while 10-year old Deo stayed behind to help his disabled mother. By 1:30 a.m. their entire neighborhood had burned. They lost everything.
- Payton Walton — A critical care nurse in Santa Rosa, Payton started an adopt-a-family program supporting more than 400 families impacted by the fire.
- Len Marabella — Executive Director of Catholic Charities Santa Rosa, Len lost his home as did his entire neighborhood, but he went straight to work to help the 2,800 people homeless before the fire. This number is expected to double or triple with 6,000 homes lost.
- Santa Rosa Fire Department Battalion Chief Scott Westrope — Scott went to work to fight the fires, and had no idea that within hours, his home would be gone. Scott was responsible for calling three engine companies to protect a Senior Living Facility, saving the lives of nearly 120 people.
- Jessie Taintor, Santa Rosa Firefighter — Jessie and her boyfriend, also a firefighter, both fought the fire on the front lines. Jessie opened the evening by telling her story and reminding everyone that this concert was first and foremost about the people most impacted.
The evening included an in memoriam film to honor the more than 40 lives lost in the fires narrated by Peter Coyote.
Tipping Point Community, which has focused on fighting poverty in the region for the last 12 years, has disbursed an initial $2 million to eight organizations on the ground.
“Low-income communities were the hardest hit by the recent fires in the North Bay” said Daniel Lurie, CEO and Founder of Tipping Point Community. “In partnership with the civic and business communities, we will ensure that we stand by our neighbors throughout the rebuilding efforts.”
The fires in the North Bay burned an estimated 200,000 acres and 6,000 homes in Sonoma, Napa, Mendocino and Lake Counties, displacing thousands of residents. Damage estimates are in the billions of dollars and rising, and the cleanup and recovery efforts will be the largest and costliest in California history.
Last night’s Band Together Bay Area concert was possible due to the collaborative effort of founding sponsors and all 60 partners: AAA Northern California, Airbnb, Another Planet Entertainment, AT&T, Bank of America, Benchmark, BottleRock Presents, Box.org, Citrix Systems, Inc., CODE Advisors, Comcast NBCUniversal, Deloitte, DocuSign, Dolby Laboratories, Facebook, Gap Inc., Gilead Sciences, Goldman Sachs Gives, Google, Hewlett Packard Enterprise Foundation, HP Foundation, Intuit Inc., Kaiser Permanente, Kilroy Realty, Kleiner Perkins Caufield Byers, Levi Strauss Foundation, LinkedIn Corporation, Live Nation, Masons of California, McKinsey & Company, Northern California Carpenters Regional Council, Oath, Perkins Coie Foundation, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Pinterest, Plant Construction Co., L.P., Qatalyst Partners, Qualtrics, Quip, RingCentral, Ripple, Salesforce, Salesforce Ventures, Salesforce.org, San Francisco Giants, Shorenstein Properties, State Farm, StubHub, Supercell, SV Angel, Target, Tencent, The Climate Corporation, TIBCO Software Inc., Tishman Speyer, TMG Partners, Twilio, Twitter, UBER, UPS, Verizon, Visa, Webb Investment Network and Workday.
Donations are still being accepted and can be made by visiting bandtogetherbayarea.org. To give $25, text TOGETHER to 20222. For more information, visit www.bandtogetherbayarea.org or www.tippingpoint.org.
# # #
