Fire victim benefit concert set for Oct. 2 in Sebastopol

Throughout Northern California, event organizers continue to announce benefit concerts to help victims of the recent Valley Fire on in Lake, Napa and Sonoma counties. Here’s an update:

“Valley Hope”

The Sebastopol-based crowdfunding web site Plumfund, founded by “Shark Tank” reality TV show winners Sara and Josh Margulis, will host the “Valley Hope” fundraiser Friday, Oct. 2, to benefit families who lost homes and businesses in the recent Valley Fire.

The concert, starring popular Sonoma County band Lost Dog Found, will be held from 6 to 9 p.m. at the Community Church of Sebastopol, 1000 Gravenstein Highway N.

The goal is provide emergency cash directly to victims to help with their recovery. Residents of Middletown, Hidden Valley Lake, Anderson Springs, Cobb and others are invited to register at plumfund.com/valleyhope to receive funds and tickets to the event. The public is also encouraged to visit the site to learn more, get tickets or donate to the fund. Ticket prices range from $40 to $200. Organizers said 100 percent of the donations will go directly to Valley families in need.

Sara and Josh Margulis appeared last year on ABC’s hit series “Shark Tank,” winning $400,000 in new funding for their growing portfolio of web sites, which also includes Honeyfund, founded in 2008 to help newly married couples plan and pay for honeymoons.

“Putting Out the Fire Concert”

Tickets are on sale now for a November “Putting Out the Fire Concert” with national country stars Diamond Rio and Joe Diffie, and Ukiah country singer-songwriter McKenna Faith at SOMO Event Center.

All proceeds will go directly to the Bodega Bay Fire Protection District and victims of the Valley Fire. With the area’s only fully staffed paramedic fire station, the Bodega Bay Fire Protection District services are in constant demand for rescue, fire, and medical services, but these services are at risk due to lack of funding.

Despite the need for funds for Bodega Bay, in light of the recent devastation caused by the Valley Fire, show promoters Ron and Carolyn Kirk, along with Sean Grinnell, Bodega Bay Fire Chief, decided to share the proceeds from this concert with the victims of that fire.

The show will start at 2 p.m. Nov. 15 at the center, 1100 Valley House Drive, Rohnert Park. Tickets cost from $49.50 to $69.50, and are available from somoconcerts.com.

You can reach staff writer Dan Taylor at 521-5243 or dan.taylor@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @danarts.