The Simpson chapter of Amnesty International and the Public Relations Student Society of America have joined together to host the first annual “Jamnesty.”

The concert will be held on Dec. 5 at 7 p.m. in the Brenton Student Center. Tickets for the event are $5 with a Simpson ID and doors open at 6 p.m.

“Jamnesty is a big battle of the bands concert featuring five Iowa bands,” junior Bailey Harris, Amnesty International president and co-chair of the event, said.

The lineup of bands for the event include Same Sick Feeling, Here’s My Chance, Maxilla Blue and Divided We Stand, all from Des Moines, and Stanwood Charlie from Tama.

The event will be setup a Battle of the Bands with each band getting a 30-minute set. During each set, buckets will be passed around where audience members can donate cash as a way of voting for that band. Whichever band raises the most money at the end of the night is the winner and will receive a paid gig at Simpson sponsored by Campus Activities Board.

“We’re not raising money for Amnesty International in particular,” senior Jas Crosser, co-chair of the event said. “All the money raised will go to their national campaign to save Darfur.”

Harris hopes that while the event raises money for the cause, it also educates students.

“We really hope to raise awareness about the displaced people of Darfur and how long the conflict there has been allowed to go on,” Harris said. “We also hope to raise a lot of money to send to those people of Darfur who desperately need it, and to have a good time doing it.”

Students who are excited for the event also hope that it sparks an interest in people to become a more active global citizen.

“This event is great because students are going to get to have fun, but also do something for a good cause,” junior Kathryn Lisk, an Amnesty International member, said. “I want the event to help them realize that they’re part of a community way bigger than just Simpson and that everyone can do something to help the world out.”

Jamnesty won’t be the first event for the recently established group this fall. On Nov. 18, the group sponsored a “blackout day” and showed the film “Darfur Now,” which nearly 100 students attended. The group also has a lot of things planned for the future.

“Next semester we’re working on a lot of stuff, including more forums, speakers and letter writing campaigns. We’ll be sure to keep students posted,” Harris said.

“A lot of hard, hard work has been put into the show and I want everyone to realize what a big deal this is,” Harris said. “The bands are all great and we have several genres represented. It’s going to be a really good time.”