By Kelsey Givens

Five hundred hungry Nye County school children will get a free breakfast for the next three months. Sixty-six children could have new pairs of shoes or pants, as well, thanks to the $2,000 raised at the first ever Rock-4-A-Cause benefit concert on Sunday.

The event, put on by Fidelis Christian Church, reportedly raised $1,358 through raffle tickets, carnival games, a smashable car and other food sales for homeless and needy children in the Nye County School District. The church then donated another $642 dollars to the event in order to bring the grand total raised to an even $2,000.

Jim Scott of Fidelis Christian Church said the money they raised will be split evenly between the school district’s homeless children or at-risk children in need fund and Food for Thought to help feed and support homeless and at-risk youth in the community.

“The biggest thing this year is for us to tell people there’s a need in our valley. And that’s really the biggest thing, and we hope the people that did come have a lot of fun; go out tell their friends and then next year when we do this it’s even bigger,” he said.

The event was made possible by the church and many other volunteers who offered their time, talents and efforts to bring awareness to the issue of homeless and at-risk children in Pahrump, and help raise money to alleviate the problem.

Many of the major items used during the concert, including the drum set and stage, were donated by individuals just hoping to help make a difference in the Pahrump community.

Ralph “Red” Pillman, president of the Tribe motorcycle club, gave Fidelis the stage, where bands performed free of charge, saying how he enjoys being able to offer it to events trying to make a difference for others in the community.

Four bands from Las Vegas, Kansas and California all traveled to Pahrump specifically for this event and to help Fidelis Christian Church spread awareness of the issue as well.

“In the Midst came from Vista, Calif. Colton & Zara heard about it and basically detoured from going home from a long tour to do this, and now they’re going home. And Par~A~Digm and God with Us are from Vegas. Par~A~Digm is a very good band, so getting them to come out to this is big, because like I said they’re good,” Scott said. “And the thing is they get it. You come out to a town like this, you don’t think homeless kids, you just don’t think that. You think like it’s a small town, small things, but the reality is there’s a big problem.”

Beginning with the self-proclaimed “happiest band on earth,” the Colton & Zara Band kicked off the night with a fun mix of folk music, which got the crowd moving.

Moving onto God With Us, this rock group wasn’t afraid to interact with the crowd, at one point forming a train that wound its way through the audience before they returned to the stage to finish their set.

After a short intermission, Par~A~Digm took the stage with its creative sound, which was ground mostly in rock, but at times pulled elements of rap, hip-hop and R&B.

And the final act to go on was heavy rock group In The Midst, who had a large screaming fan group anxiously awaiting their performance by the end of the night.

Despite several technical difficulties, the groups all remained upbeat, sharing their enthusiasm to be participating in such a worthy cause.

And though these groups were made up of folk and rock genres, their lyrics, songs and messages were all positive and family friendly.

“As you can see there’s plenty of families and all of these bands are family friendly and there are different genres of music so it’s a lot of creativity,” Scott said.

In addition to sharing their music, the groups also shared a little bit of their faith with event goers as well, reminding everyone why it’s so important to be thankful for what they have and to encourage them to give back to those who aren’t as fortunate.

Moving into the future with this event, Scott said the church has big plans to expand it and hopes to bring more people out so they can donate even more money to this cause next year.

“It’s just a blessing,” he said.