Rock for Rolls

Cameron Harper

Final News Story

Aggies for Africa hosted the Rock for Rolls fundraiser Monday to raise money to build a bakery in Sierra Leone.

Coy Whittier, senior at USU and president of Aggies for Africa hopes to use the event to create awareness for their group, as well for the impoverished country that is just coming out of an 11-year civil war.

“When the bakery is all up and running, it will employ about 20 to 30 people, which will make a lot of difference,” said Whittier, “it will also benefit the community immensely as a whole. Bread is a hot commodity right now, and it's a huge market to get into. Lots of demand, not much supply.”

According to Whittier, the amazing thing about this project is that it was designed and is being implemented entirely by the people that live in Sierra Leone. “They have done their homework, and worked really hard to make this a reality. We've really only helped them out.” Said Whittier, “It's their project, we're just supporting and providing some of the things they do not have access to.”

The business plan for building a bakery calls for $19,500, but Whittier feels they could probably get the job done for $17,500 with donations of ovens and other bakery equipment. After the bakery is built it should be self-sustaining. “That's the beauty of these kinds of projects. There are plenty of people committed to making them work, they just lack the initial capital to make it happen.”

The Rock for Rolls event played host to 12 bands that showed of their skills in the popular game for Play Station 3 and XBOX 360 called “Rock Band.” The game showcases classic as well as contemporary rock songs, where the object is to, as a band, create musical fusion. Four players take on the roles of the bands singer, guitarist, drummer, and bass player.

Aggies for Africa have been working with an organization called Shine on Sierra Leone, which was hosting a big event in L.A. that involved a “Rock Band” competition as well as some performances from some pretty big-name people. “We talked to them, and they thought it was a great idea, and that we could even get the winning team into the L.A. show. So obviously we were stoked.”

The competition took place in a bracket system where two teams would go against each other, and then the winner of the two would move to the next round. Many teams showed up ranging in ages from college students down to a team of eight and nine year old boys. Many people showed up in costumes to the event. “It was tons of fun to rock out and show of my stuff!” said Rebecca Tanner, drummer and member of the “Los Banditos” rock band. Many people gathered around as the bands performed and cheered on the other competitors.

The winners of the competition were band “Neesh,” winning with a final score of 1,694,000 points on their last song. The band will now go to the L.A. competition where performers such as Kanye West, Christina Aguilera, and John Mayer will perform. “It was sweet to have the crowd there and awesome that it was for a good cause,” said high school junior, Sam Spencer, “Even better that we won and are going to L.A.”

The event lasted 5 hours and was held in the international lounge in the TSC. Tickets were $3 and all proceeds went towards the bakery.