During a star-studded night of old-fashioned rock and roll, a concert called Love Rocks— co-founded by John Varvatos seven years ago— raised more than $2 million to support a charity that serves meals to sick people throughout New York City.
Over the past six years, the Love Rocks benefit concert has helped the nonprofit God’s Love We Deliver prepare and deliver more than 2 million meals to people too sick to shop or cook for themselves, each nutritionally tailored to the person’s specific needs.
God’s Love We Deliver was founded more than 35 years ago during the height of the AIDS/HIV epidemic, when most individuals feared interacting with AIDS patients.
It was started by hospice nurse Ganga Stone, who began delivering nutritionally-tailored meals to people living with AIDS in Manhattan. To date, the organization has delivered nearly 30 million meals to individuals suffering from a range of diagnoses including AIDS, cardiovascular disease and cancer.
With philanthropy being core in the fashion designer’s DNA, Varvatos got together with friends Greg Williamson Nicole Rechter to launch Love Rocks in 2017.
Since the first concert in 2017, annual Love Rocks concerts have raised more than $20 million, helping to deliver more than 2 million meals to people unable to shop or cook for themselves.
On Thursday evening March 10, some of the music and entertainment world’s biggest stars came together at the Beacon Theatre in New York City for the sixth edition of the concert.
With a capacity crowd and full red-carpet regalia, organizers also extended God’s Love’s sentiment of helping those who need it most by announcing that at least $50,000 of the funds raised will benefit the people of Ukraine as Russia’s invasion of the country continues.
Keith Richards & the X-Pensive Winos, Jackson Browne, Warren Haynes of Gov’t Mule and the Allman Brothers Band, Melissa Etheridge, Ben Harper, Hozier, Mavis Staples, Larkin Poe, David Shaw of the Revivalists, Ivan Neville, Jimmy Vivino, Bernie Williams, Tyler Bryant of Tyler Bryant & the Shakedown, Anders Osborne, Celisse, Allison Russell, Maggie Rose and Connor Kennedy of Steely Dan were among the rockers who performed.
Varvatos, whose charity work across many cities and in support of numerous organizations has raised tens of millions of dollars, will be honored on June 3 by the Greek America Foundation, a New York City-based charity he has supported over the years. He will be one of the honorees at the organization’s 2022 Gabby Awards that will take place at The Plaza Hotel.
