Latino Artists Juanes and Juan Luis Guerra Donate $150,000 to Victims of Storm Sandy
Colombian rocker Juanes and Dominican singer Juan Luis Guerra have donated $150,000 from their benefit concert in New York to the American Red Cross, for the victims of superstorm Sandy.
In a press release both artists, who were winners in the Latin Grammy Awards recently, said that "with so many people from these regions now facing immense hardships, we want to show our deep appreciation by utilizing our music to both raise spirits and more importantly, raise much-needed funds to help them through these times of great need."
Roger Lowe, Senior Vice President of Communications of the American Red Cross said that "the devastation brought by Hurricane Sandy has affected millions of people, but thanks to the support of generous donors such as Juan Luis Guerra, Juanes and CMN, the Red Cross is there for them, providing immediate relief now, and staying on the job as people move toward recovery."
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Juanes has also said that "after the hurricane passed through this area we thought it was the right thing to do. We are happy to be here, this is the right thing for us."
The concert by Juanes and Juan Luis Guerra took place on Saturday 24, Nov. at the recently inaugurated Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, where thousands of fans listened to some of their classics like "La Camisa Negra" ("The Black Shirt") and "Fíjate Bien" ("Pay attention") by Juanes, and "La Bilirrubina," by Juan Luis Guerra and his band 440.
Juanes also included in his concert repertoire songs from his new album "Tr3s Presents Juanes: MTV Unplugged," while Juan Luis Guerra performed songs from his last album "Colección Cristiana" ("Christian Collection"), which is oriented mainly for a Christian audience.
Juanes is known for giving benefit concerts and has previously held numerous fundraisers. In 2006, the Colombian singer organized a concert in association with the Hispanic network Univision, raising more than $350,000 to help children injured by landmines in Colombia, to provide them with prosthetics, wheelchairs and rehabilitation assistance.
The singer also organized and performed in a peace concert in 2009 in Havana, Cuba, entitled "Peace without borders." Other Latino artists who participated at the event were Miguel Bose, Olga Tañon and Silvio Rodriguez.
Hundreds of thousands of people showed up at that event, which turned out to be controversial, since some Cuban American critics said that by performing in the concert, the artists were showing their support to the communist government.
Juanes, however, said back then that the concert was inspired by love.
"We came to Cuba for love. We have overcome fear to be with you and we hope that you too can overcome it. All the young people in the region, from Miami in the United States and in all the cities…should understand the importance of turning hate into love."
