Dave McLaughlin, a talented musician from Toronto, recently performed on August 10 to raise funds for the victims of Hurricane Beryl in Jamaica. Saxophonist Dave McLaughlin has been known for always helping others. For years, he has been raising money for good causes in and around the Greater Toronto Area.
McLaughlin holds gospel fundraising concerts to provide scholarships to students – he always donates a portion of his album sales to charity and performs for free at charitable events. On Aug. 10, he organized a fundraising gospel concert at Scarborough’s Rosewood Church of the Nazarene, 657 Milner Ave. Tickets for the gospel concert were sold for $25 each at local businesses.
The Category 4 Hurricane Beryl hit Jamaica on July 3 with winds of up to 215 km/h and heavy rains, causing widespread death and destruction throughout the Caribbean. Beryl is the most powerful hurricane to hit Jamaica in over a decade, causing major flooding, destroying homes and businesses, and leaving hundreds of thousands without power and hundreds homeless.
Hurricane Beryl caused significant damage to Jamaica’s farms, leading to food shortages. McLaughlin was moved to take action after he saw a woman on TV saying she only had a can of sardines to feed her family after the hurricane.
McLaughlin’s lifelong commitment to helping those in need began while growing up in Montego Bay, Jamaica. Attending Sunday services at the local parish church with his family made him learn that charity isn’t just an option – he believes that it is because “blessed are those who consider the poor.”
In Jamaica, McLaughlin also discovered the importance of mentoring young people. A music professor from Indiana State University heard him play the saxophone and encouraged him to continue, saying he was a natural. This encouragement gave McLaughlin the confidence to keep practicing. He is now known as a world-class musician, performing globally and has even opened for the late Ray Charles.
McLaughlin moved to Canada in 1991 and became a Canadian citizen. He settled in Toronto and started the Dave McLaughlin Band, which now plays at corporate events, weddings, and other social gatherings. However, he always remembered the values he learned in Jamaica as a young person — the importance of charity and the encouragement of young people to pursue their dreams.
Source: Toronto Sun
