Benefit concert raises money for gun violence prevention
Lovee says the idea sparked from the rise in gun violence in the city. She says they wanted to raise money for a good cause.
LEXINGTON, Ky (WTVQ)- So far this year, Lexington has seen 23 homicides in 2022, with 19 resulting from gun violence.
On Saturday, community members put on a concert to bring the community together against gun violence.
Radio personality and community activist Kash Lovee has seen first hand the results of gun violence in Lexington.
“I buried a cousin and I buried a brother with in a weekend of each other. And we couldn’t get one in the ground before put another in the ground,” said Lovee.”
Both of those losses happened in June, causing a lot of pain for Lovee’s family. But it also spearheaded her idea for change.
“They should be here. A lot of them should be here. And so doing this, I know that same emotion is through the city. And so we needed to give them a day where they can come out and have a good time. Let the kids be kids. I don’t want our community and our children to grow up feeling like they have to be scared to come outside,” said Lovee.
On Saturday, Lovee teamed up with RadioLex and others in the community for UnityFest. Lovee says the idea sparked from the rise in gun violence in the city. She says they wanted to raise money for a good cause.
“It’s a chance to showcase some of the really great local talent, rap, hip hop, gospel, R&b,” said RadioLex executive director Mark Royse. “Like again, lots of performers and they’re all very passionate about the cause in coming together to say this violence is not helping anybody.”
The benefit concert helped raise money for gun violence prevention and intervention organizations.
“I think everybody is on edge due to all the gun violence across the country,” said Royse. “So we really wanted to bring people together and celebrate and have a good time and showcase whats really good in our community.”
More than a dozen performers took the stage at Greyline Station Saturday night.
“Now we’re going to be able to sew a seed into giving that awareness. Because now we’re having people who have never been around shootings who are seeing victims and don’t know what to do. That’s why you have these amazing organizations, like project body bag and stop the bleed that can teach you what to do if you’re in a situation and you see a gun shot victim. A lot of people don’t have those skills. We don’t think we need them,” said Lovee.
As the group now takes a stand to make sure their pain becomes a purpose to stop gun violence in the city.
“People are going through trauma now. It’s become traumatic. Its become a norm in Lexington Kentucky for a homicide to happen on New circle Road or downtown. It’s not just in the urban communities,” said Lovee.
Organizers say they’re also plans to put on benefit concert in Frankfort.
Those plans have not yet been finalized.
