Avon Band Gets 'Momentum' Going to Raise Money for Homeless Veterans

Some teenage rock bands may have a rebellious air about them, but this is certainly not the case with “Momentum,” an Avon-based high school band that’s gaining notoriety for their commitment to civic causes in the Greater Hartford area. 

On Tuesday, Aug. 2, the members of “Momentum” will perform their second-annual free concert at Flatbread Pizza in Canton to benefit Community Renewal Team’s Veterans Crossing, which provides housing for up to 12 homeless veterans. 

The restaurant will donate $3.50 per large pizza and $1.75 per small pizza purchased during the show. In addition, concertgoers will have the opportunity to participate in a silent auction featuring a Takamine guitar and Ski Sundown lift tickets. A veteran and representative of Kaman Music Corporation in Bloomfield donated the guitar. 

The band’s involvement with Veterans Crossing started with lead guitarist Sam Shield, who helped renovate the veterans’ housing prior to its grand opening in 2010. 

“We have been very impressed with the commitment that Sam and his friends have shown to Veterans Crossing, starting with a hands-on service day where they helped us plant and landscape the building (before it opened), and then these two concerts,” Nancy Pappas, the Director of External Affairs at Community Renewal Team, wrote in an email to Patch. 

Momentum band members include Shield, drummer Jack Stayton, vocalist Cole Petano, all 15 and attending Avon High School, guitarist Ben Sherbacow, 16, of Avon Old Farms School, and bassist Taylor Cronin, 15, of East Grand Rapids High School in Michigan. 

Last year, the group helped raise over $1,200 for Veterans Crossing.

“We hope to do almost as well as last year. We didn’t have quite the time that we did to prepare last year because we were waiting to find if we would have a drummer,” Shield said.

The band recently lost their drummer and bassist, both of whom moved out of state. Fortunately, they found a new drummer in time and the bassist will be in town during the week of the concert. 

“We play rock, reggae, some blues and funk,” Shield said of the band’s musical repertoire. 

The philanthropic group plays a mixture of original music and covers, including "Fire" by Jimi Hendrix and "Santeria" by Sublime.

Veterans Crossing was developed by the Community Renewal Team after they completed an in-depth needs assessment of the community.

“Our research showed that there was a disproportionate number of veterans in the homeless population," Pappas said in an e-mail. "Federal Veterans Administration and our own census at our two homeless shelters bore this out. So we began work on acquiring property and a contract to run a transitional residence for homeless veterans."

Veterans Crossing opened in May 2011 and is located in East Hartford. 

“There is space for 12 veterans at a time, each with his own bedroom. They receive intensive case management and are connected with medical, mental health, substance abuse, employment and other services, either through VA or through CRT services,” Pappas wrote Patch in an email. 

All proceeds raised from the concert and silent auction will go towards Veterans Crossing. 

“All of [us] in the band want to support the veterans who put their lives on the line to protect us," Shield wrote to Patch in an email. "It's not right for any of them to be sleeping on the street, or in their cars, or in the woods, and this benefit is one way that [we] thought [we] could help."

The show is scheduled from 5 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 2 at Flatbread Pizza in the Shoppes at Farmington Valley at 110 Albany Turnpike in Canton. A bar area separate from the dining room also will be open during the show. Proceeds from donations and up to $3.50 for each pizza sold by Flatbread Pizza (dine-in or takeout) will benefit CRT Veterans Crossing, a transitional rooming house for homeless military veterans. For more information, visit facebook.com/MomentumMusic.

For those interested in volunteering with Veterans Crossing, contact Nancy Shapiro, Community/Development Manager, at 860-560-5471.