Monies Raised By Against Me! To Support Migrant Farmworkers

LONDON, UK (Top40 Charts/ Sire Records) - The up and coming progressive punk/rock band Against Me! of Sire Records has donated $18,000 from five benefit concerts in 2007 and 2008 to the Harvest of Hope Foundation. The donation will enable Harvest of Hope to provide additional emergency and educational aid to migrant farmworkers and families across the country. Two concerts were held at Common Grounds in the band's hometown of Gainesville, Florida (home also of Harvest of Hope), one at the Metro in Chicago, the 40 Watt Club in Athens, Georgia and Juanita's in Little Rock, Arkansas.

The band's first CD on a major record label, "New Wave", was ranked the best album of 2007 by Spin Magazine and the 9th best album of the year by Rolling Stone Magazine. Their single "Thrash Unreal" was ranked the 7th best single of 2007 by Entertainment Weekly Magazine. The band is currently on tour with the Foo Fighters.

The band adopted Harvest of Hope because of its unique, grassroots work assisting hard-working yet needy mobile field workers harvesting and producing fruits, vegetables and other foods. The reaction by fans to the band's philanthropic efforts to assist migrant farmworkers via Harvest of Hope has been overwhelmingly positive. The web-site for Against Me! is www.againstme.net.

Since 1997, Harvest of Hope has distributed more than $614,000 in emergency and educational financial aid to migrant field workers and their families for car repairs due to breakdowns, housing, utilities, bus tickets, medical services, food, clothing, funeral expenses and scholarships for children of migrant farmworkers attending college. Recent sample expenditures are listed on the opposite side of this page.