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Wavy Gravy's 84th Birthday Quarantine Concert For Seva May 14 - May 17

Cultural icon

Hugh Nanton Romney Jr. (born May 15, 1936), known as Wavy Gravy, is an American entertainer and peace activist best known for his role at Woodstock, as well as for his hippie persona and countercultural beliefs. He has reported that his moniker was given to him by B.B. King at the Texas International Pop Festival in 1969.

Romney has founded or co-founded several organizations, including the activist commune, the Hog Farm, and later, as Wavy Gravy, Camp Winnarainbow and the Seva Foundation. He founded the Phurst Church of Phun in the 1960s, a secret society of comics and clowns that aimed to support ending of the Vietnam War through political theater, and has adopted a clown persona in support of his political activism, and more generally as a form of entertainment work including as the official clown of the Grateful Dead. (addendum by SCG source: Wikipedia)

Restoring sight is one of the most cost-effective health interventions to reduce poverty. With clear vision, those you have helped will now be able to return to work and school and live productive lives that are free from blindness. Funds raised will support Seva Foundation.

Each SEVA program initiated and supported becomes financially self-sufficient

Nearly 90% of visually impaired people live with limited access to eye care. Thankfully, 80% of all vision impairment can be cured or prevented. Seva's ultimate goal is for each program supported and initiated to become financially self-sufficient without the need to rely on donations or foreign support. This sustainable approach ensures that communities are provided with on-going access to eye care. Seva works with program partners to ensure that their institutions have a sustainable human resource model that prioritizes local skilled workers and ongoing training. Another way Seva promotes sustainability is by prioritizing financial self-sufficiency. A model of high volume with high quality care was developed by Arawind Eye Care in India in which services for those who cannot pay are subsidized by fees collected by those who can. This sustainable cost-recovery model means practitioners can provide eye care to patients who cannot afford care immediately, while also ensuring high quality eye care services will continue for many years to come. Because of the success of this model, Seva now adapts this sustainable approach for programs in other countries around the world.

DONATE for Compassion in ACTION: https://www.seva.org/site/SPageServer/?pagename=donate

According to the WHO (World Health Organization), at least 1 billion people in the world have a vision impairment that could have been prevented or has yet to be addressed. Since 1978, Seva has been working to transform lives by restoring sight in communities with little or no access to eye care. Today, Seva has evolved into a highly effective organization, working with partners in over 20 countries to increase the capacity of local hospitals, and develop sustainable eye care programs.

Artists included in the concert are Ani DiFranco, Blind Boys of Alabama, Bob Weir, Chris Robinson, Bonnie Raitt, Buffy Sainte-Marie, Crosby & Nash, Dr. John,Hot Tuna, Jackson Browne, Jason Mraz, New Riders of the Purple Sage, Poor Man's Whiskey, Roy Rogers, Rising Appalachia, Ruthie Foster, Steve Kimock,Steve Earle and Wavy Gravy.

The concert will be viewable May 14-17 at this link: https://bit.ly/WAVY-GRAVY-concert

Wavy Gravy, is not your ordinary clown. He certainly has had a long run since his earlier days as a poet and stand-up comic, improvisational theater artist, psychedelic bus caravan luminary, and rock concert emcee, and often jokes: “if you don’t have a sense of humor, it just isn’t funny anymore.” Yet his reach extends far beyond the comic. He is devoted to “do something good for a change,” and his creative activism on behalf of peace, justice, and good humor is legendary. Along with Jahanara, his wife of over fifty years, he has brought joy and helped to relieve suffering for countless people around the globe, largely through his favorite projects, the Seva Foundation and Camp Winnarainbow.

Seva Foundation is a Berkeley based organization founded in 1979 by a group of medical professionals, counterculture activists, musicians and compassionate individuals, all dedicated helping others through the prevention of blindness. Most notably among them are public health expertDr. Larry Brilliant, spiritual leader Ram Dass, and humanitarian activist Wavy Gravy. In the past 41 years, Seva has restored eyesight for more than 5 million people with programs reaching many of the poorest places in the world including: Bangladesh, Cambodia, Pakistan, Nepal, Tibet, India, Africa and Native American communities in the U.S. Today, Seva’s sight restoration programs serve over a million people annually.

Thanks to the support of our donors, Seva and our partners provided vital eye care services to more than 1.5 million people in the last year alone. Seva's vision is a world in which no one lives with treatable blindness. With your help, we can make that vision a reality.

WATCH here:

https://www.seva.org/site/SPageServer/?pagename=wavygravy84

Please visit www.seva.org for more information about the concert - about SEVA and how you can help. THANK YOU

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