Lindsey Anderson cares – “Dollars for Darfur” benefit concert raised $5,000

By Pete Mohr| June 11, 2008
Darfur LindseyI hold that it’s never too late to publicize good deeds – especially when they’re accomplished by younger folk whom we adults are all-too-often prone to criticize.

Darfur: Can you accurately locate this faraway region of despair and horrific atrocities? I can’t. All I know is that it’s part of Sudan. Just another African tribe-on-tribe oppression shamefully ignored by the non-African world. Me? I’m more focused, as a sports fan, on what will pull the Diamondbacks out of their current dive.

Thankfully, Lindsey Anderson (CSHS ’08) cared – and will always care. On Friday evening, March 28, Anderson was the principal organizer of “Dollars for Darfur,” a benefit concert at Falcon Field. The event raised slightly over $5,000 for humanitarian relief in Darfur. Participating bands were Farewell to Florence, Willow, In Symmetry, Drew Alexander and Contrite. The Summer Set’s vehicle broke down en route from the Tempe Music Festival. Stephanie Light and Taylor Stevens performed between bands. Concert-goers were moved by two Darfuri refugees and a Darfuri wife and child. “Hearing” is “believing.”

Having met Lindsey Anderson only briefly to take the accompanying photo, I’m confident she would have me list all the adult advisors and student volunteers who worked hard to make the event a success. Accolades to you all. Instead, I opt for this excerpt from Lindsey’s e-mail to Sonoran News: “I suppose my inspiration goes back to my 4th grade year when I read book after book about the Holocaust. I was horrified by the slaughter, trying to comprehend the genocide – and how it could happen. I thought the Holocaust was the end, but I would discover Rwanda, Armenia, Cambodia – and eventually Darfur. Sadly, the list goes on and on. Last summer while working on my International Baccelaureate Program extended essay, I read Don Cheadle and John Prendergast’s “Not on Our Watch: The Mission to End Genocide in Darfur and Beyond.” That inspired me to action. I was so tired of denouncing genocide without acting against it. So I decided to hold a benefit concert. Without the generous time and effort from Cactus Shadows administration and student volunteers, the success of the benefit would never have happened. I cannot thank enough everyone who was involved.”

On May 22, 2008, Lindsey Anderson was recognized as an Honors graduate from Cactus Shadows. I admiringly offer that in “heart” and “spirit” she graduated Summa Cum Laude. Congratulations, Lindsey.

Photo caption: Event organizer Lindsey Anderson (CSHS ’08)