Concert band, EPIC + ONSIDE team up to inspire Quinte children

The regional Hastings County Concert Band will perform a benefit concert with all proceeds going to support EPIC + ONSIDE, a community organization that provides mentoring, recreational programs and camps for elementary school students. “The Songs of Summer” family concert will be on Saturday July 25 at Maranatha Church, 100 College St. W. Belleville. The [...]

Article content The regional Hastings County Concert Band will perform a benefit concert with all proceeds going to support EPIC + ONSIDE, a community organization that provides mentoring, recreational programs and camps for elementary school students. “The Songs of Summer” family concert will be on Saturday July 25 at Maranatha Church, 100 College St. W. Belleville. The concert will include fun and energetic music for entire families including songs from ABBA, The Beach Boys, The Beatles, Titanic, Wizard of Oz, The Muppets and feature Sonya Zaback of the regional band “Cue The Funk” and local vocalist Yona Harvey.

Showtime is 7 p.m. Preshow entertainment starts at 6:30 p.m. with Sonja Turner on accordion. Recommended Videos The concert is free with donations greatly appreciated and going directly to EPIC + ONSIDE, a national community organization which provides summer and year-round programs for children in five local Quinte elementary schools.

Game On is a mentorship program where students who struggle with social and behavioural challenges in school get nutritional breaks with volunteers, sharing a meal, building relationships and burning off energy through games and sports. Food For Learning programs in four schools in Quinte serve meals and snacks to students including Christmas Dinner, a traditional Christmas meal with turkey, potatoes and veggies where in 2025, volunteers from the community and staff cooked 42 turkeys, 325 pounds of potatoes, 100 pounds of carrots, and over 30 litres of gravy. In total, EPIC + ONSIDE provided more than 50,000 servings of food in schools through-out the school year.

Across Ontario and British Columbia, the organization deploys hundreds of volunteers, 220 staff and another 200 summer “leaders-in-training” including over 40 high school, college and university students in Quinte who work for the organization or training to run camps. EPIC + ONSIDE strives to teach children valuable life lessons about faith, family, excellence, leadership, and generosity through affordable leagues and recreational programs like ball hockey, basketball, art, flag football, lacrosse, soccer, and STEM programs in Quinte. https://epicandonside.ca/participants/

The Hastings County Community Band is a collection of over forty talented local musicians committed to providing benefit concerts for local charities and inspiring others through music.