On August 22nd, “On The Vine,” a four-day music and entertainment festival starring Ms. Natalie Cole and benefiting kidney disease research will launch. “On The Vine” will take place on the beautiful island of Martha’s Vineyard August 22 – 25, and will feature live stellar performances by: Kenny “BabyFace” Edmonds, jazz greats Kahil El Zabar, Roy Hargrove and James Carter, music legend and icon Smokey Robinson, comedian and kidney disease survivor Richard Lewis, Grammy Award winning violinist Miri Ben-Ari, singer-songwriter Angie Stone and others.
“On The Vine” will be an annual event benefiting the Rambam Health Care Campus located in Haifa, Israel and will help fund the breakthrough kidney disease research of Professor Karl Skorecki. This year, the event’s biggest evening will star Ms. Natalie Cole: an American treasure, multiple Grammy Award winner, songwriter, performer, author and kidney disease survivor. 40 million Americans have kidney disease, of which almost 12 million are Black. We are 3.5 times more likely to suffer from kidney disease, why is this BCG Friends? We account for only 14% of the population, but make up 30% of all patients treated for kidney failure. Of the 580,000 Americans on dialysis due to kidney failure, African Americans constitute 187,000…nearly a third. Here is what is the saddest to me, black patients often wait up to ten years before getting a match for a transplant because there are fewer potential donors for Black people.
Breakthrough medical research led by Dr. Karl Skorecki and his team based at Rambam Hospital in Israel, has isolated genetic markers that are linked to contracting kidney disease, as the first step to prevention and cure.
“It is my understanding that we are 5 years and $5 million dollars away from finding a cure for kidney disease among African-Americans. I am proud to have the opportunity to produce a benefit that will generate funds for a history making medical breakthrough,” said Dennis Shortt, founder and executive producer of On The Vine.
“On The Vine” is a Heard It Through The Grapevine Production created and executive produced by Dennis Shortt, Chief Creative Officer of Concretemixx22, a Chicago based touch marketing agency. Dennis Shortt and The American Friends of Rambam have created ON THE VINE to generate awareness and funding support for this lifesaving research discovery. Sounds like a wonderful festival at the perfect time of the year for the legendary Martha’s Vineyard, we’ll be adding this to our list of Giving Vacation Ideas! For tickets, more information and a full schedule of events, visit: Onthevineevents.com or follow them on Twitter.
