New Jersey’s favorite non-profit organization, Music Is The Medicine (MITM), is back hosting a benefit concert, “Beet Violence, Grow Peas,” on Saturday, August 4 with a $10 donation to benefit Providence House Domestic Violence Services (PHDVS.) The multi-act benefit concert will be held at Trinity and the Pope, 649 Mattison Avenue, in Asbury Park. The event will begin at 6:00pm with acoustic acts performing downstairs in the restaurant area where guests can relax, enjoy dinner and listen to great music. Come 10:00pm, bands will be performing for the remainder of the evening. Confirmed acts: The Amboys, The Riverwinds, Mad Feather Group, Marshland Plan, Justin& Emily (No Wine For Kittens), Anthony Walker, Midnight Poncho, Frank Lombardi, Chris Brown, Brian Leopold (The Poconos), plus special guests.

While past MITM benefit concerts have raised awareness and funds for a variety of causes, “Beet Violence, Grow Peas” is centered around nutrition as a whole and, more specifically, organic farming and the therapeutic effects it holds.  MITM believes that good nutrition is the ultimate preventative medicine and has therefore pledged to build a sustainable, organic garden at the Providence House shelter.  PHDVS provides comprehensive services for victims of domestic abuse and their children outreach offices and emergency safe houses in Burlington and Ocean Counties.

Music is the Medicine was organized two years ago by brothers Dan, Connor, and Brent Effenberger of the Asbury Park-based band The Amboys. What started in 2009 as a chat in the kitchen between three brothers has grown into a full-fledged non-profit organization. The group’s website is www.MITMfoundation.com.

For over 25 years, Providence House Domestic Violence Services has provided victims of domestic abuse and their children with an array of services such as: emergency shelter, a 24 hour hotline, counseling services, a comprehensive children’s program, a parenting education Program and a program specifically designed to assist victims age 50 and older. These services are offered free of charge and are invaluable to victims and their children who are struggling to break free from the violence in their homes. For additional information about Providence House Domestic Violence Services of Catholic Charities, please call Marcia Fishkin, Community Affairs Coordinator for PHDVS at (732) 350-2120.

For up-to-the-minute information about the “Beet Violence, Grow Peas” please visit www.facebook.com/MITMfoundation.

Toms River, NJ [6/1/2012] – Jersey Shore’s own Music is the Medicine Foundation is pleased to announce that it is back this summer with a “homerun” event! The freshly founded and absurdly innovative non-profit organization will once again host a benefit concert.

Inspired by the passing of Alfred Risicato, MITM is proud to host: Strike Out Diabetes! A Benefit Concert in Support of Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. Strike Out Diabetes will be held on Saturday, June 23rd, at JR’s Ocean Grill on the Seaside Heights boardwalk. The first pitch will be thrown at 8pm with a $5 donation at the door.
Alfred Joseph Risicato, Jr., 56, of Howell, NJ, passed away on Friday, May 20, 2011. He was born in Brooklyn, NY, and resided there before moving to Howell 30 years ago. His true passion was his family and baseball. He was an avid Yankee fan, a member of the American Softball Association (ASA), a member of the Monmouth Umpire Association where he was an umpire for little leagues and softball leagues, and a former president of Howell Central Little League.
What started as a casual conversation between brothers Dan, Connor, and Brent Effenberger has become the locally-known and nationally-supported nonprofit organization: Music is the Medicine. Debbie and Glen Effenberger raised their three sons in a household that embraced both the healing power of music and the philosophy of “giving back.” Over the years, as the brothers grew and became more and more embedded in the Jersey shore music community, their shared passion for music and charity gave rise to the idea of combining these two ideals.
MITM’s first three events brought in $16,000 collectively, benefiting the Wounded Warrior Project & Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Research Center. Generous donations have also been made to Oceans of Love & Toys for Tots. You can read more about these events and the Foundation’s journey to a legal nonprofit at www.musicisthemedicinefoundation.com. But above all else, come out to JR’s on June 23rd to hear good music and donate to a great cause.
Popular local bands The Amboys, Accidental Seabirds, Gleasons Drift, and Threats to Chesney will be on hand to help MITM reach their fundraising goal. Funds raised will go to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF.)
The MITM team hopes you can make it on the 23! If you cannot attend tax deductible donations can be made to support Music is the Medicine and crucial research at JDRF can be made via check. Please contact mitmfoundation@gmail.com for more information. Be sure to ask about our corporate sponsorship program as well. MITM is happy to publicize all donors upon request.

New Jersey’s favorite non- profit group Music Is The Medicine (MITM) is back this summer with Strike Out Diabetes!  Funds raised will go to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. The event will be held on Saturday June 23 at JR’s Ocean Grill on the Seaside Heights boardwalk in remembrance of Al Risicato, the father of one of MITM’s current members. Great local bands including The Amboys, Accidental Seabirds, Gleasons Drift, and Threats To Chesney will be on hand to help MITM reach their goal to both educate and entertain. Kickoff is at 8pm with a $5 donation at the door.

All out rocking concert starts at 10.  So families should come early.

All funds Funds received will go to JDRF to support research for children’s diabetes and community outreach programs to educate kids on the disease.

Nearly 26 million Americans have diabetes (8.3 percent of the population)1:
• Diagnosed: 18.8 million
• Undiagnosed: 7 million
• As many as three million Americans may have type 1 diabetes.
• Diabetes currently affects 366 million people worldwide and is expected to affect 552 million by 2030.
• In the U.S., a new case of diabetes is diagnosed every 30 seconds; more than 1.9 million people are diagnosed each year.

Meeting of the Minds- By MaryColleen Norcia 

One of the reasons I enjoy being part of MITM so much is the people I get to work with. While our
meetings come with agendas and start with the Pledge… we aren’t exactly the stereotypical business.
We sit around the living room in our co-founder’s apartment in Point Pleasant, on couches and a hodge-
podge of garage sale chairs. We don’t have a fancy office or a central table to work on. Robert’s Rules
of Orders just don’t apply in our setting. We’ve got laptops and cell phones for doing quick research and
updating Twitter. There’s always chips and salsa. Music is a staple of course, and the funk too . We show
YouTube videos and quote classic movies whenever necessary. We allow ourselves the true freedom
to be creative and feed off the vibe that builds as our discussions begin. One person decides we need
a video promoting our next event, Strike Out Diabetes, and moments later through a serious of absurd
comments and suggestions, we’ve mapped out a kicking story board for what will be one of our best
videos to date. It won’t be “too cute” or “too raw” – perhaps more family friendly than the previous visit
from Chef Cianello, but it will still have our own unique tastes added in. Stay tuned for what will surely
be a must see viral sensation, that only a crew like this can come up with…and remember, there’s no
crying in baseball…

What have the MITM crew been up to the last few months?
When we’re not hosting excellent benefit concerts we are still running all over spreading the love and supporting great causes.  Literally! Besides sending two representatives to run in the NYC Marathon as part of Fred’s Team, MITM members have participated in: The Race for Hope in Philadelphia benefiting the National Brain Tumor Association, The Relay for Life at St. Joseph’s University benefiting the American Cancer Association,  the Polar Bear Plunge in Seaside Heights raising funds for the Special Olympics, Winter Beach Run for the Manasquan First Aid Center, and the Barnabas Health’s 5k at the Blue Claws ball park in Lakewood promoting healthy lifestyles.
We’re not hanging up our running shoes either, upcoming this summer/fall members of our team are participating in a 5K in Barnegat for Autism Awareness, the Color Run in Philadelphia, two Tough Mudders for the Wounded Warriors Project, and a Triathlon in support of research to fight diabetes with Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.

Contact us mitmfoundation@gmail.com if you’d like to join our team at any of these events!

Members Exercise Their Green Thumbs
A few MITM members and fellow supporters gathered together on Saturday April 21st to work alongside Coastal Habitat for Humanity in Asbury Park. It was National Community Day, sponsored by Saint Joseph’s University, and our crew did their part by working on landscaping an entire lot for a newly finished Habitat home. When we arrived on site we saw the beautiful home, but the yard was nothing more than a dirt lot.
By the time we left the entire area was transformed! We got to work with shovels and, under the homeowner’s direction – planted flowers, bushes, and small trees. We layered the garden beds in mulch and framed them in with landscape edging. Next, we laid the sod – “the earth’s carpet” – over the rest of the lot, and gave everything a good soaking. Other members of the neighborhood were in need of mulching and sod – anything extra we had, we shared with them accordingly.
It was a truly excellent day, and we all thoroughly enjoyed the experience. Coastal Habitat  is an excellent organization doing wonderful work throughout Monmouth County, we hope to continue to partner with them in the future!
Additionally, MITM members celebrated Earth Day by giving back to the local community. Members volunteered at Earth Day Celebration held at Monmouth Care Center in Long Branch; and even taught a workshop on composting this past Sunday, April 22nd.