Avenue Inn

These are teenagers from the Niagara area who know that Christmas time for them is dramatically different than for others who live right in their own community who are less fortunate.

“Get involved. Donate your time even if it’s only a half hour of your day,” said Jake Maiuri, 18, who attends Brock University and is a member of a local band called Avenue Inn. “People have time to watch movies, play video games or play sports so if you can’t do something to help your community then something is wrong.”

During the past month, Maiuri and a close group of friends pooled together their talents to produce a music video. They recreated Band Aid’s “Do They Know It’s Christmas.” The original 1984 video was created to raise money for relief of the 1983-1985 famine in Ethiopia.

The Niagara teens have recreated the song to raise awareness about hunger and a way to support Project SHARE.

“Everything you see in this video is done by kids, Niagara youth who are mostly between the ages of 15 to 19. The idea is to get them involved after they leave high school and there’s no one telling them what to do,” said Maiuri, who comes from a family with a strong musical background. His father is Rick Rose, singer, songwriter and performer who also operates the Niagara Institute of Music and Art on Epworth Circle.

After coming up with the idea, Maiuri contacted fellow band member Carlos Lopez, who can record and edit, and another friend, Benjamin Mannella, to see if he could video tape it. They quickly jumped onboard and so did Avenue Inn’s other band members, Sean Cahill and Isaac Thomson. Alex Maiuri and Reece Fisher also helped to video the event. “I know a lot of musicians and also through my father, but we wanted to keep it more for the younger generation so I contacted some people from my old school, Saint Paul, and also Myer, Saint Mike’s and Brock,” said Maiuri. “Everyone had a fun time working on the project.”

The idea behind the music video is not just to have people watch it and then they get on with their lives, he adds. It’s to make them think about hunger and then hopefully to get involved in trying to address the issue.

Katie Cuviello, fundraising co-ordinator for Project SHARE, said “it’s amazing to know this is what our youth are doing because it’s so impressive and professionally done.”

To help spread the word, the food bank has put it on their website and the students are getting it out through social media.

People need to get involved, simply because it’s the right thing to do, said Maiuri.

In addition to providing emergency food to families who are living below the poverty line, Project SHARE also supports 4,800 people at Christmas with food and gifts for children 17 years and under. - Niagara Falls Review

On this CHCH Music Friday we welcomed alternative rock band from Southern Ontario, Avenue Inn. - CHCH News