The Jazz Boys Collective, a local big band led by area music teachers Bruno Avitia and Eddie Provencio, will play a benefit for the victims of the recent mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas. The Uvalde Big Band Benefit is at 9 p.m. Thursday, July 30 at The International, 114A Mills St.

Patrons and those who can’t make the benefit are encouraged to donate directly to the San Antonio Area Foundation’s Uvalde Strong Survivors Fund, one of three SAAF created to support the victims of the mass shooting.

You can donate here.

One hundred percent of the money donated to the Uvalde Strong Survivors Fund goes to the victims’ families and the survivors. No administrative or credit card fees are deducted.

“The collective would like to send our love in solidarity with the victims’ families of this tragedy in the best way we know how, by gathering support in our community through the love & camaraderie that only music can provide,” reads a statement from the band. “As Texas teachers we all felt the wave of grief that permeated the state when news of this unnecessary loss of life reached the Southwest. What can one do in the face of violence and hatred? We come together in the hopes that this music will ease the pain that is all too familiar to our part of the Southwest (#elpasostrong). Please join us as we declare in one voice, we love and mourn with you Uvalde! We will be shouting our message into night sky on June 30, 2022 through the divine harmony that is God’s gift to sound, music.”

The Jazz Boys Collective plays a weekly Thursday night residency at The International. The benefit is assisted by the El Paso International Music Foundation, an affiliate of the El Paso Community Foundation.