Suicide prevention concert scheduled for March 7
TROY, N.Y. » All are invited to join in for a night of Beatles music to benefit suicide prevention and mental health intervention services at the upcoming seventh annual Dustin Mele Memorial Concert.
The event is scheduled for 6 p.m. on Saturday, March 7 at Brown’s Revolution Hall, located at 425 River St. in Troy.
The concert will feature local bands Soul Sky, Across the Pond and Super 400, which are donating their time and talent to fill the night with crowd favorite Beatles songs, with a little help from their friends who will be sitting in throughout the night as special guest musicians.
On why the bands are going with a Beatles theme this year, organizer Joe Mele said they wanted to come up with something new and fresh that eventgoers would enjoy. “When we started discussing the idea of doing a Beatles theme, people were really excited,” he said, sharing that he and Dustin’s mom Patti are huge Beatles fans, and saw them at Shea Stadium in 1965.
Proceeds from this year’s Memorial Concert will support three organizations - the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, the National Alliance on Mental Illness, and Rensselaer County mental health and emergency assistance programs through our Diocesan friends Catholic Charities CONSERNSU program — all in memory of Dustin Mele.
“In 2013, the world lost a bright light,” a press release for the event said. “Dustin was kind-hearted, happy and a joy to be around. He was full of positive energy and always encouraging others. Proof that anyone can be lost to suicide in an instant.”
Past annual concerts have raised over $70,000 for Capital Region not-for-profits, and have drawn more than 3,500 attendees, including Congressman Paul Tonko and many Troy city officials.
Concert organizers, including Dustin’s father Joe, believe that through advocating for suicide prevention programs that help erase the stigma of depression and making proper mental health care more easily available, lives can be saved.
“When we began searching for programs in NY’s Capital Region that offer support and assistance for those struggling with mental health issues, it became painfully apparent that programs are few and far between compared to the need proven by the increasing rates of suicide,” the release said, noting that suicide is at epidemic proportions and touches more and more lives and families every day.
This annual tradition started in 2013, after Joe lost his son Dustin to suicide. A veteran of more than 40 years on the local music circuit, Joe rallied the area’s musicians to raise awareness of the growing suicide problem.
Over the past seven years, the Mele family has gone above and beyond to try to bring awareness and assistance to those who are struggling in the Capital Region.
For the past six years American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) credited the Dustin Mele Memorial Concert as the top fund-raiser in upstate New York for AFSP’s largest annual event, the Fall Walk for R.I.T.A., which raises money for suicide awareness, suicide prevention and family support programs.
Past Memorial Concerts have also raised funds for the Lansingburgh Boys and Girls Club, the Companion Animal Placement Program (CAPP), the Troy Music Academy Music Scholarship Program, and the Rensselaer County Heroes at Home project.
A $20 minimum donation is suggested at the door.
There will also be a 50/50 raffle at the event.
Those who can’t attend but are interested in donating can do so online at https://afsp.donordrive.com/index. cfmfuseaction=donorDrive.participant&pa rticipantID=2292086. Online donations go directly to American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.
More information on the annual Dustin Mele Memorial Concert can be found online at www.facebook.com/DustinMeleMemorial.