Rocking and Rolling for a Cause

Australian Vintage rock band, The Stiletto Groove rocked the night away in Lussy, on December 9, to raise money for the Swiss-based charity Kids With A Cause Europe.

The packed audience was regaled to songs for all tastes – on the music menu, a delectable selection of hits, from the swinging Andrew Sisters to good old 60s rock ‘n roll, a peppering of contemporary songs and of course some jazzed up and traditional carols, in line with the festive season!  Touring with the band this time was guest singer Marianne, completing the fantastic trio sister act.

“Everyone had a great evening. The band was simply amazing and we’re so grateful to them for coming and performing for us again”, said Franca Price, Director of Kids With A Cause Europe.

The event was held at the Lussy Municipal Hall in French-speaking Switzerland, where more than 120 people filled the room and left generous donations throughout the evening.

Founded in Melbourne, Australia in 1988, Stiletto Groove members Phil, Graeme and sisters Gabrielle and Tina (www.thestilettogroove.com) already have a track record for their generosity and charitable work. For the past 14 years, they have performed at the annual Inverloch Auxilliary Ball, raising more than half a million dollars during this time for the diabetes department of Melbourne’s Royal Children’s Hospital. They have also recorded a CD called “Carols for a Cure”.

“We were very happy to come to Switzerland for a second time to raise money for another very worthy children’s cause”, said Gabrielle.

The members of Stiletto Groove have toured nationally around Australia at major venues supporting international artists including Bo Diddley, Tom Waits, Maria Muldaur, Eumir Deodato, Rodriguez, The Wailers, and Taj Mahal.

KIDS WITH A CAUSE EUROPE wishes to thank the following people for their support:

Lussy-sur-Morges Municipality – for donating us the venue
The Stiletto Groove – For coming all the way from Melbourne again!
The Blues Brethren – supporting band
L'IV Graphics – Irene Lengui – website and other promotional materials
Cabinet Courtages et Conseils (CCCV) – Carmelo Vartosis  insurance
Boullard MusicNestlé
Nespresso
Zweifel Chips
Yan Amstein - St. Légier
Maurice Givriens - Vintner
Lussy Wine Cooperative

Auberge de Dully
Manor (Morges)

George Powell – Radio Frontier

All the friends for attending the event and for their kind contributions

This year we are supporting:Association Moptimistes – Mali (http://www.moptimistes.org/)

Fondation Just for Smiles – Fribourg (www.just4smiles.ch)

Stiletto Groove Rocks its way back to Switzerland for Exclusive Concert

By popular demand, after last year's fantastic concert for Kids With A Cause Europe held in Lussy, Switzerland, the Australian Vintage rock band Stiletto Groove is coming back to do an exclusive concert for the Foundation in December at the absolutely fabulous Dinemec Studios in Gland, Switzerland, where artists including Alicia Keys have done production work.

This excellent venue will offer a comfortable-chic lounge setting with a food and beverage area and plenty of space for rocking the night away to the awesome renditions of some of the world’s greatest rock and dance songs, and all your favourites spanning from the 60’s to today.

Stiletto Groove was founded in 1988 by singer guitarist Phil Bowden, lead guitarist Graeme Murphy, and vocalists Gabrielle Murphy and Tina Bowden, who have worked with world renowned Australian, as well as international musicians, including: Men at Work and The John Farnham Band, Taj Mahal, The Wailers and Bo Diddley to name a few.

DON'T MISS IT!! BOOK YOUR TICKET NOW...See http://www.kidswithacauseeurope.org/ for details

FROM Vullierens, Switzerland, TO Tumavia, Fiji, VIA Melbourne, Australia!!!

With such a title, I should be writing about a fabulous holiday, but my story today is quite special because it is about caring and sharing.

Tom and Lisa are two children who live in Vullierens, Switzerand. They heard of Kids With A Cause-Europe’s ongoing support of the library created by “Godmother” Lizzie from Texas, to bring books to the children of Tumavia village in Fiji.  Tom and Lisa were moved by the idea that they could do something to contribute more books to the Tumavia Library. Last year, they persuaded their mother that they could earn some money by baking cakes and selling them at the Vullierens village fair!

Their efforts earned 146.03 Swiss Francs. At around the time that the foundation received this money, my friend Pam was visiting from Australia. She is a retired teacher and published author. Since Australia is closer to Fiji than Switzerland, I asked Pam if she could help me maximise the value of the money we received from Tom and Lisa and get the most books for Tumavia Library, bearing in mind that postage had to be factored into the equation.

When she returned home to Australia, Pam discovered that postage form Australia to Fiji is rather expensive. Once she had worked it all out, she decided to see if she could get books donated, which would leave the money to pay for the postage. She contacted the librarian from her old school to see if she had any ideas. As luck would have it, the librarian told her that they were in the process of replacing a lot of books, and Pam could have the ones that were being taken out of the library. Pam was delighted and accepted the kind offer, which produced a huge number of well cared for books that still had plenty of use left in them!

Pam eventually sent two huge boxes of books to Tumavia, Fiji. They arrived on 1^st January 2011. Wati Davetabei in Tumavia emailed me the news of their arrival and asked me to extend a very special thanks to everyone who contributed to the successful conclusion of this unusual “long journey”. 

She asked that I pass on a very special thanks to Tom and Lisa for their donation, which is helping to make the start of 2011 very special for the children using the Tumavia Library. More particularly, she wanted to thank them for caring enough to do something, in order to show their solidarity towards their less fortunate peers, the children on the other side of the world in Tumavia, Fiji!

We look forward to your visit to the foundation's website where you will find more information and pictures:
http://www.kidswithacauseeurope.org/