The 10th Annual Dustin Mele Memorial Concert

Start: Saturday, March 9, 2024 6:00PM
End: Saturday, March 9, 2024 10:00PM

Proceeds from the Memorial Concert will support three organizations, the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP); National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), and Rensselaer County mental health and emergency assistance programs through Catholic Charities CoNSERNS-U program, all in memory of Dustin. Over 550 attended the Memorial Concert last year, and helped us break a $120,000 mark in fundraising over the past 9 years, thanks to the generous support of our community, donors and sponsors. A special musical line-up is planned to mark 10 years, with Super 400 and guest Tommy Love; The Memorial Concert All Star Band featuring the Rob Beaulieu Band and special guests Chris Busone, Matt Hatfield, Chris Garabedian, Dave Max, Joe Mele, Tom Murphy, Evelyn Murphy, Tony Perrino and Julian Wenacur. A veteran of more than 50 years on the local and national music circuit, Joe Mele lost his son Dustin to suicide in 2013 and rallied the area’s elite musicians to raise awareness of the growing suicide problem. Dustin’s friends and family believe that with erasing the stigma of depression and making proper mental health care more easily available, lives can be saved. Suicide is at epidemic proportions and touches more and more lives and families every day. The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) has credited the Dustin Mele Memorial Concert as the top fund-raiser in upstate New York for AFSP’s largest annual event, Walk for R.I.T.A., which raises money for suicide awareness, suicide prevention and family support programs. Recently, NAMI New York State presented Dustin’s family and the Memorial Concert Event with their highest honor Storyteller award. This year’s Dustin Mele Memorial Concert event is sponsored in part by Brown’s Brewing; Chris Garabedian Custom Clothing, Clark Courier Services, D.O.B Parkinson’s Charity, Fagan Associates, Guth DeConzo Consulting Engineers, PC; Live Sound Inc.; Modern Press; Parkway Music; RadioRadioX; Screen Designs Inc.; Squared Home Inspections; the Bourgault/Sroka Families; and Verrillo Motor Car Company. Online donations can also be made to any or all 3 benefiting organizations: AFSP Dustin Mele Memorial Concert: https://supporting.afsp.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=donordrive.team&teamID=336638 Catholic Charities Dustin Mele Memorial Fund: https://fundraise.givesmart.com/e/_1rZ2g?vid=x2ayh NAMI Capital Region: https://namicapitalregionny.org/10th-annual-dustin-mele-memorial-concert/ For more information on the Annual Dustin Mele Memorial Concert, visit our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/DustinMeleMemorial. On behalf of Dustin’s family and friends, and all those who will be helped through this year’s benefiting organizations, we thank you for your support!