It’s a few hours past midnight. You and your friends just stepped out of the street-corner bar, sweaty and tired from standing close with strangers to watch your favorite artists. You decide to go grab a bite before going home, so you flag down the next jeepney that passes. The driver blasts Rick Astley’s hit Never Gonna Give You Up on his speakers—the red and blue interior LED lights, the loud thumping of the bass, and the roar of the engine suddenly gets your adrenaline pumping again.
Miss the high of performing, watching live gigs, or even your usual jeepney rides? Fret not, we’re never gonna say goodbye! Never Gonna Jeep You Up is proud to present Kanto Hits, a virtual open mic fundraiser for our displaced jeepney drivers.
This event will give local talents a corner of the street to turn heads with their spoken word pieces and OPM songs. Familiars from the local poetry scene (Alfonso Manalastas, Gian Lao, and Ralph Fonte) and the indie music scene (Keiko Necesario, Banna Harbera, Jarlo Base, and Zsaris) will also be there to jam with us!
This event will be free for streaming on August 29, 2020 8 PM onward over Never Gonna Jeep You Up’s Facebook via a live video, but everyone is strongly encouraged to donate through the accounts that will be flashed on screen.
Kanto Hits is the most recent fundraiser of Never Gonna Jeep You Up. The goal of this fundraiser is to reach out to more jeepney drivers, as the team has already surpassed the initial goal to raise Php 250,000.00 through donations, partnerships with different groups and small businesses, and several events.
Never Gonna Jeep You Up (NGJYU) is a fundraising campaign initiated to support jeepney drivers affected by the mass transportation ban and jeepney phaseout amidst the pandemic. The team has surpassed its initial goal to raise Php 250,000.00 through donations, partnerships with different groups and small businesses, and several events held such as Dance From Home (an online private dance class), Dungeons and Dragons: Play for a Cause, Call of Duty: Tournament for a Cause, and Jeepney Tunes (an online gig featuring OPM artists). We have reached out to 385 displaced jeepney drivers residing at C.P. Garcia Avenue, Dagat-Dagatan Caloocan, and Bagong Silang, and from different routes including Taft-Monumento-Recto. The team would like to reach out to more affected drivers as traditional jeepneys continue to be banned from the streets of Metro Manila preventing thousands of drivers from earning much-needed income to provide for their
families.
Follow Never Gonna Jeep You Up for more details:
Instagram: @neverjeepup
Facebook: www.facebook.com/neverjeepup
