Rescue Pets Get “A Little Help From My Friends”

Jerome Isma-Ae. Photo: Mixing.dj

For a segment of Houston’s dance music community, sweating to electronic music on the weekends just isn’t enough. For the sixth annual charity bash known as A Little Help From My Friends, DJs, dancers and electronic music fans unite for a cause: to support Houston’s Friends For Life Animal Rescue and Adoption Organization, a strictly no-kill animal rescue and the only LEED-certified shelter in Texas.

Taking place at 8 pm on July 30 at Up & Down on Washington Avenue, the event is open to patrons age 18 and up and tickets are available for $25. Those interested are also able to make donations of any value on the ticket sale page and 100 percent of the proceeds go directly to the Friends For Life organization.

This year, A Little Help From My Friends features more than a dozen talented local DJs on two stages, including Neer, Josh Dupont, Betta and more, all supporting global headliner Jerome Isma-Ae. Additionally, there will be a bachelor and bachelorette auction and silent auction.

Matthew Dunn, founder of A Little Help From My Friends, began throwing annual charity events catered to the electronic dance community. Past benefactors have included the American Red Cross and the Japan Tsunami relief effort. “I started fostering rescues for Friends for Life early in the series and the experience just really spoke to me,” he says. “What this organization does for Houston’s abused and neglected dogs and cats struck a chord. Friends For Life has proven that you can run a rescue efficiently and responsibly, do so much good for animals, and still not kill, ever.”

Dunn, who ended up adopting his foster dog, has immensely grown the event since its inception. “There’s just something about the unconditional love between you and your dog,” he said. “The fact is, there are so many in need of help through no fault of their own.”

Though Dunn claims he has always “done better with animals than humans,” the event has sparked a tidal wave of local support with Houstonians eager to lend a hand to help the cause. Local DJs flood the organization page for A Little Help From My Friends in hopes of having their turn on the decks, not just for the enthusiastic audience, but to see how music and dance can benefit Houston’s vulnerable rescue pets.

A Little Help From My Friends with special guest Jerome Isma-Ae takes place at Up & Down (4105 Washington Ave.) on July 30 from 8 pm to 3 am. Here you can find more information on A Little Help From My Friends, to purchase tickets or make donations benefiting Friends For Life Animal Rescue and Adoption Organization – Houston.

by Nadine Obeid