Emerson Drive photo by Joseph Anthony Baker, courtesy of The Valory Music Co.
September 15, 2009 — Emerson Drive lead vocalist Brad Mates is in his hometown of Grande Prairie, AB today for two special events, the Emerson Drive and Friends Charity Concert and the 3rd Annual Brad Mates/E-Drive Celebrity Golf Tournament. His bandmates will join him for the events benefiting the Grande Prairie Regional College (GPRC) Recording Studio & Music Scholarship Program and the Parkinson’s Disease research program at the University of Alberta.
"Emerson Drive began in Grande Prairie," explains Brad. "The make-up of the band has changed a little bit over the last few years but the idea of this band and the music we record comes from growing up in Grande Prairie. We are proud to hold the Emerson Drive and Friends Concert every year to raise money for the music scholarship program and state-of-the-art studio housed on the GPRC campus."
The two-day event begins with the concert today and the golf tournament tomorrow, followed by a banquet. All money raised from the golf tournament and banquet benefit The Brad Mates Drive for Research Endowment Fund at the University of Alberta.
"About seven years ago my dad was diagnosed with Parkinson’s," says Brad. "We started this golf tournament three years ago to help find a cure. Over a million people in the states and over 100,000 people in Canada have Parkinson’s and I am hoping that we can help make a difference in their lives by raising money for research."
The goal of the Brad Mates/E-Drive Celebrity Golf Tournament is to raise more than $500,000 for the Parkinson’s Disease Research Program at the University of Alberta Hospital. In the first two years of the event, the band has raised over $165,000 for Parkinson’s research, so they are well on their way to reaching that half million dollar mark.
"As news of the golf tournament has spread out of Alberta I have had lots of friends, fans and peers ask how they could support our cause without making the trip up to Grande Prairie each year," says Brad. "In an effort to include everyone and to achieve our $500,000 goal even faster we have added an online giving opportunity this year. If everyone who hears about the event logs onto EmersonDrive.com and donates even $5, we could reach our goal by the end of this year!
"This cause means the world to me," he adds. "So, thank you to everyone who has donated their time and/or money to help us find a cure." Click here for more information.