Smile Train Rolls into Florida with Dave Wakeling’s English Beat
The English Beat will introduce Smile Train, the world’s leading cleft charity, to its audiences in Tampa on Friday 3/4 and Ft. Lauderdale on Saturday 3/5.
(PRWEB) March 7, 2008
The English Beat began in 1979 and sounds no different live these days, despite member changes through the years. The project has been revered for a string of signature hits such as “Save it for Later,” “Twist and Crawl,” and “Mirror in the Bathroom.” The Beat’s music has appeared in such films as, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, She’s Having a Baby, Gross Pointe Blank and many others.
The English Beat will introduce Smile Train, the world’s leading cleft charity, to its audiences in Tampa on Friday 3/7 and Ft. Lauderdale on Saturday 3/8. Such names as actress Candice Bergen, legendary journalists Walter Cronkite and Tom Brokaw plus a slew of notables including: Lily Tomlin, Bette Midler, Donald Trump, Carly Simon, Colin Powell, Warren Buffett, Christie Brinkley, Reba McIntyre and Rusty Wallace have all come out to join this important mission.
On this tour alone already, The English Beat has raised over $30,000 from people just asking for songs and throwing their money on stage to go towards the cause. Just because there’s a recession in our country, doesn’t mean fans cannot cover a floor in cash if they really believe in something. Wakeling, a long time activist and Greenpeace heavyweight is also the co-founder of the SmileTrain Asia-America BPO Industry fund (http://www. smiletrain. org/goto/BPOfund (http://www. smiletrain. org/goto/BPOfund)) with American Executive and Fund co-founder, Dan Lang, an executive with Sutherland Global Services. Lang and Wakeling intend to raise awareness and funding to deliver at least 2000 cleft surgeries this year with the help of major multinational organizations in the business process outsourcing industry and their platinum client sponsors.
Lang commented, “I traveled halfway around the world to see Dr. Adenwalla, a 77 year old surgeon and his team in action. Modern affordable healthcare is alive and well in Kerala, India. Dr. Adenwalla’s hands-on patient care can not only fix a kid’s face but it may be the model our next President will want to study for the United States.” A photo essay of mothers and children has been commissioned to be set to one of Wakeling’s songs. This montage video is expected to be released to the public later this year.
Michele Sinesky, SmileTrain's Donor Relations Manager added, “The SmileTrain is one of only a few global charities that can prove 100% of a person's donation goes directly to programs. India is one of our top countries of need and we are excited to have Dave Wakeling and Dan Lang lending their creativity and promotional skills for our mission.” The Asia-America fund officially opened Friday 2/29/2008 and is accepting sponsorships from globally aware corporations and individuals.
About Dave Wakeling
Hailing from working-class Birmingham, England, Dave and The English Beat entered the music scene in the 1979. It was a time of social, political and musical upheaval. Into this storm they came with their simple message of love and unity. Despite his huge success, Dave didn't stop singing and acting on the problems caused by the noise in this world. The band donated all the profits from their highly successful single version of "Stand Down Margaret" to the Committee for Nuclear Disarmament. They donated their music to causes including the anti-nuclear benefit album "Life in The European Theatre", "The World of Music and Dance" album focusing on indigenous people's art, and lent their voice to The Special AKA's anthemic song of freedom "Free Nelson Mandela", to name but a few. Whether it's the personal as political in "How Can You Stand There", making politics personal in "Stand Down Margaret", taking a stand against global warming as he did with Greepeace's "Alternative NRG", or helping little kids stand up proudly with "The Smile Train", Dave has always stood for something. Along with contemporaries such as The Specials, The Selecter and Madness, The English Beat became one of the most popular and influential bands of the British Ska movement. Their constant touring with iconic bands such as The Clash and The Police helped to boost their popularity in the States. www. davewakeling. com
About Dan Lang
Dan Lang, resides in Pittsford, New York and has been with Sutherland Global Services since inception in early 1986. He is known within the Business Process Outsourcing industry and around the globe as a creative problem solver and key enabler of strategic objectives. He has served on the advisory board of several business schools, municipal entities, arts and community relations organizations and he is registered to lobby both the U. S. House of Representatives and the U. S. Senate on matters related to globalization and human resources policy. Dan presently manages worldwide customer advocacy and is a key executive sponsor for important global initiatives in Eastern Europe, Latin America, Canada, India, and the Philippines. Sutherland Global Services is a multinational IT Enabled and Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) company, specializing in Integrated BPO solutions across Customer Lifecycle and Back-office Lifecycle Management services. Sutherland employs over 21,000 professionals offering Right Sourced seamlessly blended services from its 22 delivery centers around the globe. www. suth. com.
About The Smile Train
Unlike many charities that do many different things, The Smile Train is focused on solving a single problem: cleft lip and palate. Over the past eight years, we have provided free cleft surgery for over 285,000 children. These children were suffering not because they were born with a cleft, but because they were born too poor to ever afford surgery. The ones who are lucky enough to find a Smile Train free cleft surgery program, not only survive, they thrive. After a 45 minute surgery hands them back their future, and a second chance at life that they never thought they'd get. For more information please visit www. smiletrain. org.
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