Local outreach ministry plans concert fundraiser

MARBLE HILL, Mo. -- A two-day free concert featuring Christian rock music one day and Southern Gospel the next will be presented Oct. 15 and 16 at the new municipal stage in Magnolia Park.

Cory Bacon of Marble Hill is the director of the recently formed Driven to the Cross Ministries. The organization is getting ready to offer faith-based counseling for people struggling with addiction, and to open a community center for young people as well as a storefront location to help people with donated food and clothing.

Bacon said the two-day event will feature music that will touch people from all walks of life. Local groups Artifakt and Before All Falls confirmed for Oct. 15. Several other heavy metal Christian groups have been contacted but have not yet confirmed.

The next day will feature local church groups, Southern Gospel and contemporary Christian groups.

The concerts and a potluck lunch Sunday will be free, Bacon said, but donations will be accepted. Several local businesses have donated items that will be raffled to help raise money.

Bacon, who is a charter member of Solid Rock Church, plans for Driven to the Cross to raise enough money to open the former gymnasium next to the church as a community center for young people.

"We want to get children off the street and off the lanes, and I promise it will not turn into a bar," Bacon said. Young people can come there to play games, hang out with their friends, listen to music and have something constructive to do in their spare time, he said.

"If we can get children into the community center we can teach them a greater value for life," Bacon said. "Once they learn that life has value they will be more careful and take better care of themselves."

The ministry hopes the fundraiser will enable its members to open a storefront where people in need can get food, clothing, toiletries and a new start in life.

Bacon, 24, said he is driven to the ministry because he once battled addiction.

"I rededicated my life, and felt like God was letting me experience these things because I needed to learn about it to help other people going through these situations," Bacon said.

He is now attending college online, working for Saint Francis Medical Center's cardiac intensive care department, is married and the father of three.

"I was one of the lucky ones," he said. "I did not need to go to a rehab facility. I rededicated myself to Christ and got back into church. It was pretty much an overnight change."

Bacon said he is already making plans for a bigger concert for next year. Anyone interested in contacting Bacon can reach him at 573-208-3765 or by email at c.andrew@dtc.org. For more information about Driven to the Cross Ministries, visit driventothecross.org.