Blue Dogs 4th Annual Homecoming Show & 28th Anniversary Concert took place on December 28th at Charleston Music Hall. As the crowd shuffled into The Hall, all of the bands prepared themselves backstage for the event of the year; all while remembering the great reason for this event in the first place. Every year about 16,000 kids are diagnosed with cancer in the United States alone and cancer is the leading cause of death for kids in the United States. Many of these kids end up at MUSC for treatment. Although, these kids are always welcomed at MUSC for treatment, unfortunately, some are turned away due to not enough rooms or inadequate means to treat them. For this reason, Blue Dogs and friends, along with all of the sponsors who contributed, Press On Fund, and Ear For Music created this event to raise money to build the new MUSC Shawn Jenkins Children's Hospital equipped with more rooms and better technology to give the children who come through the doors a better chance at winning their fight with cancer, and to help fund pediatric cancer research. As the audience members anxiously sat in their seats awaiting for the show to begin, the house lights shut off and the stage lights flashed on as a huge cheer rang across the venue. The main event had officially begun. Throughout the night, bands scurried on and off the stage and the crowd cheered, danced, donated, and drank merrily. Towards the end of the night, backstage in a secret room, we received some amazing and shocking news from an anonymous donor that gave chills to many and even brought tears to a few. Following the jaw-dropping news, Press On Fund agreed to match what was donated, and at approximately 11pm on Wednesday, December 28, 2016, the official check was signed and given to MUSC Shawn Jenkins Children's Hospital for pediatric cancer research for a grand total of $151k plus the other donations that had yet to be counted. Everyone cheered, hugged, and cried! We officially raised 3x more than what we raised last year and we couldn't have done it without the help of all of the bands who performed, all of the sponsors who contributed, all of the donors who donated, Music Farm Charleston, Charleston Music Hall, Press On Fund, MUSC Shawn Jenkins Children's Hospital, 4 Good, Tito's, JEM Marketing/Taco Bell, Blue Dogs, and all of you who have supported us and the Blue Dogs over the years. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts!
