Sold Out Oakland Benefit Concert Raises Funds For Ghost Ship Victims
OAKLAND (CBS SF) -- A sold out benefit concert on Wednesday night raised funds for the families of the victims of the Ghost Ship warehouse fire. The concert, held at Oakland's Fox Theater featured well-known Bay Area musicians including Primus, Tycho, Tune-Yards and many others.
"Oakland United: A Benefit Supporting Oakland Fire Relief" raised funds for the Gray Area Foundation For The Arts' Oakland Fire Relief Fund.
The foundation's website states that when the immediate needs of families are resolved, the Gray Area Foundation For The Arts will "be turning their attention to longer-term issues of safety and resilience across the larger creative community, applying efforts to ensure this tragedy is not repeated."
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Josette Melchor, the foundation's executive director and founder wrote on the foundation's website, "It is unfortunate that it takes a tragedy to shed light on a broader situation around the need for safe venues for artists, musicians, and creatives in the Bay Area...We want this funding to stay in the community that was impacted."
The benefit concert in Oakland sold out 2,800 tickets and 100 percent of ticket sales and all the proceeds from merchandise go to the Gray Area Foundation For The Art, adding up to almost $300,000 for its fire relief fund.
As of Wednesday, Melchor said the fund has raised over $680,000 for the fire relief.
