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Warped Tour
Keep A Breast Foundation
from: warpedtour.com
The main draw of the Warped Tour has always been music but behind all of the bands on stage there are just as many people devoting their summer to different causes. And while many of you may be curious as to where William from The Academy Is shops or who Travis from Gym Class Heroes is talking to backstage, those really aren't the things that make the world go round. If you walk into the Girlz Garage you'll see Erica Leite standing behind several plaster casts of the female upper body. That vision alone is enough to make many people stop in their tracks to inquire. Erica works for the Keep A Breast Foundation, which is a non-profit organization who's goal while out on the tour is to raise awareness about breast cancer in young woman and educate everyone about early detection. As Erica says, "We are out here to show young girls that they need to be informed, that they don't need to feel embarrassed, to be comfortable with their bodies and know them." Erica is here to answer your questions and as she says "No question is dumb." The Keep A Breast Foundation is a beautiful fusion of scenes resulting in art with a purpose. The organization creates plaster casts of the female torso, and then the casts are painted by various artists, survivors, or other volunteers willing to donate their time. The end product is a beautiful one-of a kind piece of art that is auctioned off for charity. Erica resides in San Diego where she first began doing body casts for her own personal art shows. In a scene where everyone knows each other, people kept telling her she needed to get in touch with Shaney Jo Darden who co-founded Keep A Breast with Mona Mukherjea-Gehrig. Erica was stoked to be able to find a purpose behind her casts and immediately began volunteering her artistic efforts for Keep A Breast.
While out on the road, Erica is planning to do casts on several female volunteers (Meg and Dia tonight) and later in the tour JOAN JETT. Tyler from Valient Thorr is painting a cast and Erica hopes to get Travis from Gym Class Heroes involved because he's a fantastic artist. Many bands, including The Buzzcocks, Rise Against, and Paramore, have already donated their time by autographing a cast which will be auctioned off and proceeds will go to breast cancer research.
In her booth, Erica is also having people share their own stories in her "This is My Story" journal. You can read all about Erica's own adventures in "Erica's Boobie Buzz" which will be available by the 1st of July at keep-a-breast.org. As Erica's telling me about the different connections she's made with people through their stories she can't help but tear up as we talk. It's amazing to me to see someone so dedicated to a cause and when I ask her why it is she does all of I'm expecting a personal heartfelt experience but instead her simple answer is-"I felt that I didn't do enough good." I'm pretty sure Erica is one of my new heros, so make sure to stop by and check her out in The Girlz Garage for the rest of the tour. You can watch Erica paint a cast (did I mention she's a fantastic artist, the photos below are proof) or just talk to her.
In other news, Matt the guitarist from Emery mooned people from his bus today. He also showed me a photo of himself swimming with his dog, Reggie. He said that when he's not on tour he spends a lot of his time with Reggie and that together they do a lot of different fun things.
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