Kids Helping Kids, a student-run local organization, will host its 18th annual benefit concert headlined by Grammy-Award winning band Switchfoot, and opened by pop duo Johnnyswim, 7 p.m. Jan. 19 at the Arlington Theater.
Revenue from the concert will support children who have been victims of sex trafficking and have been rescued by the organization Set Beautiful Free. Set Beautiful Free seeks to shelter, educate and empower those children as they reintegrate into society.
Tickets are on sale at ArlingtonTheatre.org.
“So many of us in Kids Helping Kids feel super connected to their music and its lyrics themes on power and resilience,” said Maddie Schock, Providence High School senior and CEO of Kids Helping Kids.
“We are all excited for January and are enthusiastic to get the ball rolling yet again with Kids Helping Kids,” said Schock. “The culmination of Santa Barbara’s local high schools coming together to create change in not only our community but internationally is empowering.”
Kids Helping Kids is a student-run 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded in 2003 and headquartered in Santa Barbara. It is based at Providence School, with students from Dos Pueblos and San Marcos high schools supporting their efforts.
Kids Helping Kids has grossed some $4 million, with help from its branches in Sacramento and Orange County.
In Santa Barbara, Kids Helping Kids has assisted economically disadvantaged students with visual aid machines, medical bills, and school supplies. Participating students have also tutored at The Village and The Lighthouse, two community centers serving low-income families. Tutoring efforts will be starting up again in the spring.
Kids Helping Kids has supported children in countries including Nicaragua and India, areas plagued by human trafficking, as well as Rwanda, Honduras and Cuba. Past benefit concerts have used net proceeds to benefit safe houses, educational institutions, and water purification systems, catering solely to these at-risk children.