HEAVY METAL, WARM HEART

Once again this Mother's Day weekend, The Hixon called together several of their "Metal Brothers" for a Komen Philadelphia Affiliate benefit event. The ninth "Heavy Metal Takes a Stand Against Breast Cancer," was held on May 10 at the Cherrywood Rock Club in Clementon, NJ, and generated more than $1,200 for the Affiliate. 

The event was inspired by Conchita Hixon, the mother of a band member, who was diagnosed with breast cancer.  Since The Hixon started this fundraising tradition seven years ago, the band has raised in excess of $12,000 to help empower the Komen promise to end breast cancer.

"About seven years ago, I met with Elaine and the Komen Philadelphia Board of Directors because I was interested in raising money for breast cancer, thankfully they were open to the idea," said Marc Hixon, ‘front man' for The Hixon.  "From then on, the metal community got behind us and has raised, so far, over $12,000."

This year, four bands came together for the benefit, The Hixon, Exiled, MotorNature and Old Man Savage.  Sirius Hard Attack Radio stepped up and offered free event promotion, and the result was a fabulous turnout resulting in $1,200 raised through a $10 ticket charge and giveaways and raffles which included a Dimebag Darrell guitar and Sirius radio.

"I admit, when Marc first came to us, I was a bit taken aback.  We'd never had a heavy-metal connection to the Komen Philadelphia Affiliate before, most of the music interests are of the ‘softer' inspirational variety," said Elaine Grobman.  "But that just goes to show, breast cancer is universal-there is no stereotyping and the desire to end this disease is everywhere.  Marc and The Hixon have tremendous dedication, and we are honored to continue the fight side by side with them."

Pictured: The Hixon front man, Marc Hixon and Elaine Grobman, Executive Director of the Komen Philadelphia Affiliate.