Concert doubles as food drive

The south lawn of Missouri's Capitol will be filled with music, lights and fun Saturday as it hosts the second annual Music Saves Lives Food Drive.

The event is free to the public and offers raffle tickets as an incentive for participants to donate non-perishable food items. Founder and host of the event, Lee McKinney - or DJ L33'Bird - hopes to raise as much food as possible for the Samaritan Center this summer.

"We raised over 1,200 pounds of food last year," McKinney said. "We're hoping for an even better turnout this year, but you never know. We would love to have as many people as possible come out and donate."

For every 10 items of food donated, one raffle ticket will be given, with a limit of two raffle tickets per person. The raffle tickets will be entered for prizes provided by local businesses, including gift cards from Kwik Car Wash, YoYums and Buffalo Wild Wings.

His personal experiences as a child inspired him to begin this event in order to help people in tough situations.

"As a kid, I was struggling. I was doing whatever I could to get food. Because of those experiences, I want to do whatever I can to help everyone out," McKinney said.

The event will feature music from artists and DJs such as DJ Mike Evans, Goodwill, T-Bone, Hometown Heroes and Steve O'Brien. It is endorsed by Music Saves Lives, an organization that uses music and entertainment to support life-saving community action through blood drives.

Close to the organizers' hearts for this event is fan and participant Brianna Bock, who was recently injured in a car crash involving a drunk driver. Donations made to her GoFundMe account can be shown at the food drive to earn an extra raffle ticket.

The Music Saves Lives food drive is a family-oriented event. It will be 5-9 p.m. Saturday on the Capitol lawn. Admission is free, but donations are encouraged.

For more information, visit the second annual Music Saves Lives Food Drive page on Facebook.