Arlington Heights charity to hold benefit concert

When Adam Kinsella attended the 2010 Willow Creek Celebration of Hope, an event the church holds to teach people about the plight of the less fortunate, he was moved to do something to help.

“You get in the lives of people who live in the poorest reaches of the world,” Kinsella said. “You learn about how much they eat, and how they don’t have access to clean drinking water.”

Where one might be inclined to throw a few dollars to a well-known charity or perhaps volunteer a bit of time, Kinsella wanted to do more. Six months after the Celebration of Hope, he approached his parents with an idea: He wanted to start a charity of his own.

“I wanted to be really actively involved in it,” Kinsella said. “I wanted to really be able to call the shots on it and make sure the money wasn’t going anywhere else (but the cause).”

That cause was bringing a water filtration system to an area without clean drinking water, and thus, FLOOD was born.

FLOOD is holding its first benefit event this Sunday at the Metropolis Centre for Performing Arts — a concert featuring Neil Diamond tribute band Denny Diamond & the Family Jewels, which is performing at a reduced rate, and local cover band Missed Opportunity, which is playing for free.

The funds will go toward providing clean water to a community yet to be determined. Kinsella’s dad, Dan Kinsella, said his son was looking at areas in Africa and South America.

Though the charity is too small, at this point, to afford tax-exempt status, all the money it collects (minus the expense of the concert) goes toward purchasing a water filtration system through the nonprofit Water Missions International. Already, the group has raised more than $5,000 toward the $30,000 price tag associated with the system.

Adam Kinsella said he was hopeful for a turnout between 150-200 for Sunday’s concert, which would raise around $3,000 for the cause. The group plans to continue its fundraising efforts in the future, including a potential golf outing in addition to accepting donations.

The concert will begin at 4 p.m. Sunday. Tickets, which are $30, can be purchased in the store on FLOOD’s website, floodusa.org.