Local bands bring in crowd despite rainy weather

Students endured a hot afternoon sun and then an evening rainstorm while attending the second annual Timmypalooza benefit concert Sunday.

Seven bands took the stage at the fundraiser for the IU Chapter of the Timmy Foundation. This year, the chapter’s goal is to raise $20,000 to help build an intensive care unit and a postpartum ward for a hospital in Ecuador, said Timmypalooza organizer and senior Anna Remenschneider.

Last year was the first Timmypalooza, and it took place at the Indiana Memorial Union. Organizer and sophomore Gaby Cheikh was glad to see the fundraiser move forward.

    SOUNDSLIDE: Timmypalooza

“It’s just gotten bigger and better in every single way I can think of,” Cheikh said.
This year, non-profit organizations set up booths while vendors such as Chipotle and Coca-Cola Co. donated food for the event.

It began raining at about 5 p.m., and students had to take cover in one of the two tents provided. By the time the headlining band, Company of Thieves, took the stage at about 6 p.m., the rain had cleared and only a handful of the attendees remained.

The Timmy Foundation was started by Dr. Chuck Dietzen and named after his younger brother, Tim. Its goal is to provide health care and education for children in under-privileged countries. IU was the foundation’s first college chapter.

Last year, Remenschneider went to the Dominican Republic as a Spanish and Haitian Creole translator.

“The best part is the human contact and the awareness you get from these trips,” Remenschneider said.

This year, the IU chapter will take 18 students to Ecuador, where they will help set up medical clinics and educate people about steps they can take to prevent the spread of disease.

Remenschneider said the foundation rotates representatives sent from each chapter.
“They understand that the only real solution is creating a sustainable project, one that doesn’t just go, show people around and leave,” she said.

The medical treatment aspect attracts many medical students looking to gain experience abroad.

Senior Alana Gilman just recently got involved with the chapter as a bridge between two of her passions.

“This kind of seemed like the perfect union between using my Spanish and being pre-med,” Gilman said.

She said she has volunteered to help teach Spanish to the students who will go to the Dominican Republic.

Cheikh said the program has grown immensely since it first began in 1997. Now the foundation has representatives in seven countries, relying on fundraising from events like Timmypalooza.

“It was a really cool event,” said sophomore Stephanie Duncan. “It was for a good cause, so I don’t mind spending the money.”