R BABY FOUNDATION Presents a Benefit Concert: ROCKIN' TO SAVE BABIES' LIVES

NEW YORK, June 9, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- R BABY Foundation (www.rbabyfoundation.org) – the first and only not-for-profit organization focused on saving babies' lives through improving pediatric emergency care – is pleased to announce a benefit concert, Rockin' To Save Babies' Lives at The Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City on July 23, 2014. 

Featuring performances by multi-platinum New York duo A GREAT BIG WORLD, Grammy nominated singer-songwriter MARY LAMBERT, alternative rock musician RYAN STAR and Columbia recording artist DJ CASSIDY, this special event is poised to be one of the concert highlights of the summer and will directly fund R Baby Foundation's proven emergency healthcare programs for babies and children in the United States and beyond its borders.

Tickets may be purchased at www.rbabyfoundation.org and range from $100 - $500; VIP packages are available and include premium floor access with food/beverages. Tickets are tax deductible.

"The state of emergency healthcare in the United States is critically lacking for babies," explains Andrew Rabinowitz, co-founder and President of the R Baby Foundation. "Infant mortality and lack of preparedness in non-pediatric emergency departments continue to be worldwide issues. Emergency Room doctors spend only 8% of their training in pediatric emergencies; yet up to one-third of their future patients will be children. We are focused on providing healthcare for children that gives our community and all R (our) babies the best chance to be diagnosed and treated correctly."

Since its inception, R Baby Foundation has raised over $7 million towards critical improvements in pediatric emergency education, training and equipment at the nation's top hospitals and children's hospitals including CHOP (Children's Hospital of Philadelphia), Yale University Medical Center, Columbia Presbyterian Hospital, Mt. Sinai, Johns Hopkins, Denver Children's Hospital and many more. While funding programs at top children's hospitals, R Baby also supports education and training for the hundreds of doctors in non-children's hospitals nationwide to ensure that babies and children are cared for in *any* emergency department. R Baby has made tremendous strides towards nationwide standardization of pediatric emergency rooms including lobbying for a clear definition and system-wide benchmarks.

Rabinowitz adds, "We are thrilled to have the support of inspiring musical artists like A Great Big World, Mary Lambert, Ryan Star and DJ Cassidy for a night to remember--one that will truly impact us all and help make a difference."

R Baby Foundation
R Baby Foundation (www.rbabyfoundation.org) was founded in 2006 by Andrew and Phyllis Rabinowitz after the untimely death of Rebecca Ava Rabinowitz at just nine days old. After a misdiagnosis in an emergency room where doctors dismissed her symptoms as a common cold when in fact, the newborn was battling a life-threatening virus, the Rabinowitz Family turned their tragedy into action. Facing insurmountable sadness but armed with shocking information about the state of emergency healthcare for infants in the country (startling statistics revealed that 1 in 141 babies -- 30,000 -- die each year in the United States) Phyllis and Andrew joined an esteemed group of medical professionals to address and correct the critical flaws in the emergency pediatric healthcare landscape in the United States. To date, R Baby Foundation has raised over $7 million dedicated to ensuring that babies receive the highest quality of care and service through supporting life-saving pediatric training, education, research, treatment and equipment. The monies raised have funded several substantial grants in training and tools at the nation's top hospitals and have supported groundbreaking lobbying efforts for standardization of pediatric emergency rooms in the United States.

A Great Big World
In late 2013, everybody who had heard the group's single "Say Something" reacted to it. After playing during a pivotal segment of Fox's So You Think You Can Dance, this little song began its journey to becoming a big platinum-selling hit. The terse, tearful piano and Axel's heavenly hypnotic vocals tugged on heartstrings worldwide. One heart that felt it especially hard belonged to none other than Christina Aguilera.

A Great Big World went on to perform the song with Aguilera on NBC's The Voice, and that version took off to #1 on iTunes. The same phenomena occurred after a heartfelt performance at The American Music Awards, which generated worldwide applause. They closed out the year bringing the audience at The Victoria's Secret Fashion Show to its feet followed up by sold out New Year's Eve gigs supporting Maroon 5. However, their journey formally begins with the 2014 release of Is There Anybody Out There?

In addition to endless touring, the boys are in the midst of writing a Broadway musical and a host of new songs to be released soon. Even though it may seem like their dreams have already come true, for the future A Great Big World still dream huge. 

Mary Lambert
Mary Lambert had just quit her third job as a barista when her whole life changed. An aspiring singer-songwriter who also worked as a brunch waitress and bartender, she got a call from her friend Hollis Wong-Wear, who had sung and written on Macklemore & Ryan Lewis' "White Walls." Wong-Wear had recommended her to the duo who were struggling to write a chorus for their new song, a marriage-equality anthem called "Same Love." "'Hollis said, Ryan's going to send you the track. You have three hours,'" Lambert recalls. "I got off the phone and ran across the street to the bar where I worked and told my boss everything. We did a shot, then I sabered a bottle of champagne with a sword. Then I was like, Okay, I've gotta write this thing. Priorities."

The result is the transcendent chorus to Macklemore & Ryan Lewis' double-platinum hit "Same Love," which Lambert wrote from her vantage point of being both a Christian and a lesbian. "The song already had a brain," she says. "I wanted to give it a heart and make a very simple statement that my love is valid, too." Writing and singing the hook led to Lambert's first Grammy Award nominations (for "Song Of The Year" and "Album Of The Year"), performing "Same Love" with Macklemore and Lewis on the MTV Video Music Awards, The Ellen DeGeneres Show, and The Colbert Report, and joining the duo on their fall tour. It also opened the door for Lambert to sign with Capitol Records, which released her EP, Welcome To The Age Of My Body, in December. Lambert's album debut, produced by Eric Rosse (Tori Amos, Sara Bareilles), will be released later this year.

The EP's first single, "She Keeps Me Warm," is an extension of "Same Love" that Lambert calls "the other side of the story." It peaked at No. 2 on the iTunes Singer/Songwriter chart. Its accompanying video sets the song to a visual of the romantic love experienced in a same-sex partnership. "The video is about visibility," Lambert says. "I could be wrong, but I've never seen a relationship like mine accurately portrayed in a music video."

Ryan Star
Dubbed "the alt-rock Frank Ocean" by Paper Magazine, Ryan Star is an alternative rock artist from Brooklyn, New York.

His music has appeared prominently in films such as P.S. I Love You and hit television shows like The Vampire Diaries, as well as the theme song to Lie To Me. Given his live-show prowess, he's been tapped to share the stage with many incredible artists, from Imagine Dragons to Bon Jovi to Maroon 5.  His 2010 full-length major label debut,11:59, landed at #10 on Billboard's Rock Albums Chart and #4 on the Tastemakers Chart. In 2012 Ryan's hit, "Stay Awhile" charted Top 30 at Hot AC radio and quickly amassed over 2 million YouTube views.

DJ Cassidy
When Jay Z and Justin Timberlake needed a deejay for their Legends Of The Summer Stadium Tour, there's only one person they called.

When President Barack Obama needed a deejay for his inaugurations and fiftieth birthday party at the White House, there's only one person he called.

When Diddy, Naomi Campbell, Oprah Winfrey and countless other behemoths of culture need a deejay for their party, there's only one person they call.

DJ Cassidy has been at the nexus of music, fashion and nightlife for more than a decade and has become the go-to deejay for your favorite rapper, pop star, business mogul, fashion icon and trendsetter. A longstanding bridge between disparate worlds, Cassidy has channeled his diverse experiences and analytic creativity into Paradise Royale, his debut album set for release in Summer 2014 on Columbia Records. Inspired by what he calls "the golden era of dance music," Cassidy united the architects of the worldwide hits of the late 1970s and early 1980s with an eclectic list of today's most revered recording artists.

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SOURCE R Baby Foundation