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Block Party Benefits Local Baltimore School Supply Drive by Local Rock Band

September 28, 2019 – Union Square Park – Baltimore, MD

Every year, local powerhouse band, withLove, puts on a block party for West Baltimore at Union Square Park. This year was no different as hundreds of people came out to the 4th Annual Love Sessions Block Party by withLove. This event was sponsored by multiple corporate, neighborhood, and faith communities such as the Union Square Association, Ewin Corp One, Gallery Church SoweBo, and Southwest Partnership. withLove also put on a school supply drive to benefit the students of Steuart Hill Academic Academy (SHAA), the school right across the street from the park. They managed to pack dozens of backpacks full of donated school supplies. SHAA has had some struggles with low school attendance, so Amber Liverpool, withLove’s Community Outreach Coordinator, was clever in her distribution by collecting a list of the names of the students that were interested in the school supplies at the party and brought them to the school in the following week to ensure that the students were attending school and received the school supplies as promised.

From blocks away and as you walked into the park, you could hear withLove’s loud music pumping into the electric atmosphere of hundreds of intrigued people gathered in the park. You could smell the aroma of grilled hamburgers and hotdogs in the air as people were in line being served food and drinks. You could see the kids bouncing up and down in the air at the moon-bounce. You could hear a buzzing community as they gathered around the drink lounge and learned about real estate investing with Ramona of Ewin Corp One. You could feel the fashionable clothes that were on the clothes racks being given out.

withLove’s message has always been about one thing – LOVE. “Love God. Love People. Do everything with LOVE” is what David, their band leader, and the rest of the community were screaming at the top of their lungs hand-in-hand raised together in the air. David afterwards said “We always want to be in position to give back to the community where they need it most, no matter where we are in our music journey!” And that’s what they did on a beautiful fall afternoon in West Baltimore. As soon as it began, it ended. Three hours of music, food, and love. And just like that, the park was empty as if nothing ever happened. We look forward to next year to see what withLove comes up with next at their Annual Love Sessions Block Party!

Baltimore – withLove’s Amber Liverpool (right) with SHAA Principal Lisa Brown (middle) and students with their new backpacks/supplies from withLove’s School Supply Drive.
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withLove competing at Creation Fest 2018

We are so excited to announce that we have earned a slot to compete in the band competition at Creation Fest this year! We’ve been turned down by a lot of festivals that we applied for in the last 8 months and just when we only had an ounce of hope left, this HUGE opportunity came to our inbox! Many bands apply to compete, but only a few get selected and I was so excited to see that withLove was chosen. At the beginning of every year, we set goals for the band and one of them was to play at a major festival. We’ve set that goal year after year, only to find ourselves playing at smaller festivals hoping for the right opportunity to come our way. Well THIS IS IT. Our first of many…hopefully.

We strive to bridge the cultural and ethnic divides that so readily exist especially in the music community. And now we have an opportunity to extend our diverse sound to a larger audience that needs to hear our much needed message. That message is: God is love. And He exists everywhere that there is love, no matter the culture, ethnicity, gender, or background. We just want to be an example of God’s love even as a diverse band in a largely mono-colored festival. I really can’t wait to hear all the various sounds of the different bands that will be there and make some great connections with other musicians and community at large.

My heart is that people would connect with God through our music, and that our passion to worship would overflow from our hearts in a way that is refreshing and inspiring to love in the midst of a world of hate. And to simply enjoy what we do! Have fun. And build relationships with everyone we encounter. I want to keep my mind open to whatever God has in store for us at Creation Fest from the possible to the seemingly impossible. Please pray for us that we go far in this tournament and that most of all, that people would get experience LOVE through what we do in a powerful, intimate way!

If you’re coming, please scream as loud as you can for us! We love you!

withLove,
DW

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Excited for the next Love Sessions on June 23!

We are so excited to be throwing another Block Party in Baltimore this summer. Each year it keeps getting bigger and bigger and we always go into it never really knowing what to expect. The local neighborhood and church community really invest into the idea because of the turn out and the positive impact that the music and message brings to the hearts of the people!

We really believe that doing music in community like this is really our niche because it brings people together beautifully and allows us an opportunity to share the good news that is God’s love to them! And for years, we have always moved on faith putting these events on believing for the right funding to come just in time as it always does! It’s a testament to God being a faithful provider and showing us that this is HIS will. It’s a work of love, that’s worth every dollar, sweat, and mile and we’re honored to still be putting on block parties for the last 4 years.

I hope that you can come to witness this phenomenon where people from all walks of life come together and just fall in love with one another through the many communal painting, writing, prayer, and dance circles that occur at a Love Sessions. It’s truly a sight to see.

I’m believing for people to come to know Christ intimately and refreshingly and even more so that people would come to love on someone that they would have never approached in any other circumstance.

Please continue to keep us lifted in your thoughts and prayers as we are fundraising to keep the Love Sessions and Love Projects going. Local businesses have generously donated to our silent auction and we now have 10 offers on the table that people can bid on at the Love Sessions! God is good. We’re hoping that we can raise at least $1000 or more from this so we can give it right back to the community in the form of music, love, and service!

I’m encouraged to see everyone come together in excited anticipation and we will continue to carry our torch screaming: “Love God. Love People. Do everything WITHLOVE!”

RSVP for the block party here:  https://www.eventbrite.com/e/love-sessions-block-party-better-than-life-tickets-45994295175

God bless. withLove, DW

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Local Band Sponsors Clothes Drive And Benefit Concert For Local Men’s Shelter In Baltimore

For the 2nd year in a row, withLove, along with 20 other volunteers, served dinner to over 200 men at a brand NEW cafeteria of a local men’s shelter, Helping Up Mission, in the heart of Baltimore City. The band also played a benefit concert at their beautiful chapel where over 100 men gathered to worship and rejoice together in music and love. For the price of admission, people donated several bags full of clothing and toiletries for men and women. Helping Up Mission is a 24/7 dedicated men’s shelter that provides hope to people experiencing homelessness, poverty or addiction by meeting their physical, psychological, social and spiritual needs.

withLove calls these community events as “Love Projects” as a way to serve the needs of the local community through their music by gathering people to love other through acts of service. This has become a local movement in which 20 or more volunteers band together to love others beyond their day to day life. Whether that’s feeding the homeless, or mentoring under-privileged youth, or whatever creative way they can serve others, they continue to build a movement that inspires people to love others beyond their illustrious concerts.

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Local Band Surprises Local Foster Kids At Holiday Party!

unnamed-1withLove put on a surprise 1-hour show for the foster kids and volunteers at an annual holiday party put on by KidsPeace – a Foster and Community Program in Maryland. withLove played tunes off their most recent album – self-titled “withLove” as well as a few Christmas jingles as well.
Ms. Virginia Callahan, a member of Bridgeway Community Church in Columbia, MD, with a big heart for the local community – helped opened up the church doors to host the holiday party and asked withLove to be a part of this joyful occasion as a way to bring a smile to the kids faces. They sang, clapped, ate, and were smiling with their brand new Christmas toys they received as wonderfully-wrapped presents from donations to the program. Truly a sight to see when kids are inspired by generosity, music, and love.