Guest Blog: TheCharityChallenge.net, Ceci Iliff
The Tamarack Lodge will host an amazing Music Fest put on by TheCharityChallenge.net on Sunday, October 2, 2022, featuring incredible music, vendors, raffles, food, and family-friendly fun. The musical lineup includes the region’s hottest bands featuring Red Light, Whiskey Blvd, Ed Peabody & The Big Blue Thang, Big “Dawg” Isaac, Stone County and Nick Casey. Collectively, these bands offer many genres of music including classic rock, country, rhythm & blues and acoustic.
TheCharityChallenge.net believes that Music heals. This event-based organization was born, in 2014, out of a burning desire for change. When founder, Ceci Iliff, realized the barriers to treatment for her son’s mental health challenges and substance abuse were nearly insurmountable, she decided to take action.
“We need to change the way we regard the disease and bring people together to raise awareness and inspire compassion for people who are struggling. Everyone knows someone, and Together WE are Stronger”, Iliff said.
She fought relentlessly for 15 years to save her son Benjamin, who faced many challenges in his short 28 years, but he died of a Fentanyl overdose, on January 11, 2019. Ceci has spent the last few years turning her grief into action. Though her life will never be the same, she is on a mission to bring light to an epidemic that is raging out of control and claiming hundreds of lives each day.
“We need better solutions. The organization we support with the proceeds from our Annual Tamarack Music Fest, and other events throughout the year, is a CT nonprofit dedicated to creating real, long-term solutions for individuals and families.” Iliff said. “With proper funding, TriCircle will someday have a 15-month, residential program that will offer an uninterrupted long-term continuum of care and every single resource needed to thrive in life.” Iliff added, “Every drug addiction comes with mental health challenges. To the individuals who are struggling, drugs aren’t the problem, they are the solution to the problem. We should be treating the root causes more effectively right along with the actual addiction, a long-known disease of the brain.”
This event is an opportunity to bring people together, to raise money and awareness, to help build a strong foundation for TriCircle, and to reduce the shame and stigma that surround this disease.
“When we dance and sing together, there is a sense of community, where everyone moves together with shared intentions and a mutual goal. Music is a collective experience.” Quoted by Shahram Heremat, Ph.D. in an article written in Psychology Today.
The event is made possible by our sponsors, Hall Communications, Mohegan Sun and The Chamber of Commerce of Eastern CT. This annual event promises to bring hundreds of people together to sing, dance and enjoy performances by six of our regions most talented bands! Click here for more information or to purchase tickets. Find this event on Facebook and help spread the word!