November 18, 2005

Purdue groups holding benefit concert for ill student

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. –The Underground Student Concert Committee, along with Purdue Club Italiano, the university's Italian student club, is holding a benefit concert for a graduate student faced with thousands of dollars of medical bills due to a recently discovered congenital condition.

The concert for Laura Poggi, originally of Florence, Italy, will be 7 p.m. Saturday (Nov. 19) at University Church, 320 North St., West Lafayette. It will feature the band Squirtgun, who has opened for bands such as Green Day and Blink 182, said Laura Pacelli, president of Purdue Club Italiano.

Also performing will be Jorge Orillac, an emo-punk musician from Panama; 7 Speed Vortex; Fort Wayne, Ind., group Color By Numbers; Pat McClimans Group; and CounterActive.

There is a $5 minimum donation, but all concertgoers are encouraged to give as much as they can, Pacelli said.

Poggi, a teaching assistant in Spanish in the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures at Purdue, is facing more than $40,000 in medical bills due to a severe congenital intestinal-colonic defect.

Her university-supplied insurance covered 80 percent of the bill, and she was left responsible to cover the rest. Since she cannot afford to cover the remaining balance, as well as the future expenses related to this condition, the members of Squirtgun decided to do the show in an effort to put a dent in the debt.

Writer: Kim Medaris, (765) 494-6998, kmedaris@purdue.edu

Sources: Laura Pacelli, lpacelli@purdue.edu

Mass Giorgini, massgiorgini@purdue.edu

Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; purduenews@purdue.edu

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