WHAT IS THE POP PUNK PARTY?
The Pop Punk Party Fundraiser Show is an annual fundraiser in Winnipeg, Canada to help raise awareness and support for mental health and suicide prevention charities and organizations.
The Pop Punk Party was created by EGOpicks owner Lisa Lane, her children and their close friends - in memory of Zach Hucall, who we lost to suicide in 2016 at the age of 21.
WHY POP PUNK?
Lisa always says she was ‘raised on pop punk music’ by her son Tanner and his best friends - who spent their youth at the Lane house jamming to all of their favorite pop punk bands.
After the shock and trauma that followed the loss of Zach to suicide in 2016, it was hard for the boys to get back to playing music without him. After some time to heal, and getting through the tough times together, Lisa and the boys decided to create an event that would keep Zach’s fun-loving spirit and love of pop punk music alive, and try to help others that may be suffering in silence at the same time.
WHO HAVE WE RAISED FUNDS FOR?
With 4 annual shows put on so far, plus a special livestream fundraiser show during the pandemic - the Pop Punk Party Fundraiser Show has raised and donated over $90,000 to various mental health related charities and organizations, including:
- THE ROBB NASH PROJECT - an incredibly immersive concert experience that engages Robb’s young audiences through music and storytelling, addressing topics related to mental health such as depression, anxiety, self-harm, addiciton, bullying and suicidal ideation.
- KIDS HELP PHONE - provides free and confidential mental health support to Canadian youth via phone or text 24/7.
- KLINIC COMMUNITY HEALTH - provides a full range of physical and mental health related services for people of every age, background, ethnicity, gender identity and socio-economic circumstance.
- TEEN TALK - a Youth Health Education Program providing services for youth from a harm reduction, prevention & education perspective.
- UNISON BENEVOLENT FUND - provides financial and mental health assistance for music industry professionals in times of need.
HOW DO WE RAISE FUNDS? ... and how can you help?
ONLINE SALES & MEMORABILIA AUCTIONS:
In the months leading up to the show, Lisa hosts many online memorabilia auctions. The auctions feature items big and small, which are largely donated by her incredibly supportive network of EGOpicks customers and friends.
Though not a collector herself, over her many years of operating EGOpicks, Lisa has come to know a huge community of collectors from all over the world that are always thrilled to bid on the items to help raise funds for the cause.
HOW CAN YOU HELP? We can always use music-related memorabilia items for our auctions.
See 'WHAT MAKES A GOOD AUCTION ITEM' at the bottom of this page for ideas of what we've auctioned off in the past.
CELEBRITY-HOSTED SOCIAL MEDIA AUCTIONS:
We are so lucky to have some really special bands & artists that have jumped on board to help out, by hosting really cool auctions for us on their own social media pages.
- Ian Grushka - bassist for New Found Glory (and our Pop Punk Party Ambassador) has helped us raise thousands of dollars with auctions of guitar picks, drumsticks, and countless other unique NFG items hosted on his own Instagram.
- Jaret Reddick - frontman for Bowling For Soup - hosted an online auction on the band's Instagram for a signed 'Bowling For Soup' guitar (made by Wolfmeier Guitars). Thanks to the Bowling For Soup fans, the guitar raised a whopping $3000
HOW CAN YOU HELP? If you have any items that you think would do well when auctioned off to YOUR social media fans, we would be so grateful to get you on board! It honestly couldn't be easier. Lisa does 90% of the work, and it literally won't take more than 10 minutes of your time.
REACH OUT TO LISA VIA EMAIL: egopicks@gmail.com
AT THE SHOW:
At the show we raise money through:
- Ticket sales
- Silent auctions / Raffles
- Pop Punk Party Merch.
Every penny raised before the show, and at the show, goes to our annually selected charities and organizations.
HOW CAN YOU HELP? We can always make good use of any type of item donations for our raffle baskets at the show.
- Products
- Gift cards
- Hand-made goods
- Services
- ... Whatever!
- Every little bit helps!
FOR MORE INFORMATION, and to keep up to date with the Pop Punk Party events – head on over to the PPP socials!
- Facebook: @poppunkpartyWPG
- Instagram: @poppunkparty.WPG
THANK YOU TO OUR POP PUNK PARTY PARTNERS AND COMMUNITY
We are so proud of what has been accomplished with the Pop Punk Party to date – but we certainly couldn’t do this alone. We have so many amazing people that jump in and support what we do with the Pop Punk Party each year – from the artists and businesses that donate items for our online auctions and raffles, to the bands that donate their time and talent to play the shows - to our favorite Winnipeg Live Music venue – The Park Theatre - who graciously open their doors and donate their space for us to do our thing year after year. And finally - to our local Pop Punk Party Community who come out to the shows with love in their hearts – we love you guys!
OUR POP PUNK PARTY AMBASSADOR:
* Ian Grushka (New Found Glory)
Ian and Lisa became friends through another fundraising group that they were both involved with – Pick Collectors Against Cancer. With Ian being as kind and generous as he is – and having experienced his own personal struggles with mental health -- he jumped right on board to help with the Pop Punk Party in whatever way he could. Ian has donated countless items for auctions, and even hosts the auctions personally on his own Instagram page.
Ian on Instagram: @psychosmoke
BANDS AND ARTISTS WHO HAVE DONATED AUCTION ITEMS:
- Bayside
- Bowling For Soup (Jaret Reddick)
- Brent Fitz – (Slash)
- Darby Mills
- DD Verni (OverKill)
- Derek Riggs (Iron Maiden album artist)
- Forest Blakk
- Harlequin
- Helix
- Honeymoon Suite
- Kasador
- Killer Dwarfs (Darrell Millar)
- K.K. Downing (Judas Priest)
- New Found Glory
- Men Without Hats
- Motley Crue
- The Movielife
- New Found Glory
- The Pumps / Orphan
- Richie Stotts (Plasmatics)
- Ryan Key
- Saga
- Slaughter
- Streetheart
- Survivor
- The Tragically Hip
- Vince Neil
- Vinnie Fiorello (Less Than Jake)
Our incredible
POP PUNK PARTY TALENT:
- The 12/21
- BadFriend
- Brotherhood & Co.
- Dial-Up Deadbeats
- Minus 40
- Parkview
- Rudy Blue
- Screaming at Traffic
- Single Player Campaign
SUPPORTING BUSINESSES:
Thank you to all of the local Manitoba businesses, and other EGOpicks friends who have donated items for our raffle baskets at the event.
Together we are doing amazing things, and we appreciate your support!
- Advanced Audio
- Across The Board
- Assiniboine Credit Union
- Assiniboine Park
- Beatnik & Rustik
- Bedside Studios
- Blue Moon Media
- Canadian Museum for Human Rights
- Capital K Distillery
- Crampton’s Market
- Dead Horse Cider Co.
- Denatured
- Devine Shirt Co.
- Embassy Graphics
- Enigma Escapes
- Fionn’s Restaurant
- Float.calm
- Hannah Blu Tattoos
- Hwy. 59 Guitars
- Juan More Thing
- Leprechaun FX
- Long & McQuade
- Los Cabos Drumsticks
- MoonLily Wellness
- Nikki Fonts Custom Wood Signs
- Old Gold Vintage Vinyl
- Outta Town Sound
- Preservation Hall Eatery & Bar
- Quest Musique
- Scotty Webster (Albert Street Art Market & Tattoo)Nirvana Salon
- Park West Inn
- Radiance Gifts
- Red Tie Productions
- Robert Young
- Rumors Comedy Club
- Shrugging Doctor Beverage Co.
- Sorrento's
- SoundSlice FX
- Subway (Headingley)
- Super 8 Motel
- Steve Thomas Art
- Thermea Spa
- The Gentlefolk
- The Hive Winnipeg
- The Park Theatre
- Thunder Rapids
- True North Sports & Entertainment
- Urban Waves
- Verde Aveda Salon
- Winnipeg Gold Buyer
- Winnipeg Electrical Co. (Guitar Pedals)
- Winston & Fidel Cigar Box Guitars
- Wolfmeier Guitar
BANDS & ARTISTS - Can you help?
WHAT MAKES A GOOD AUCTION ITEM?
- GUITAR PICKS - custom, tour, autographed, or even stage-used picks can fetch anywhere between $5 - $100+ depending on the band or artist. (We recently did an auction with Motley Crue’s latest picks that I did for their South American Tour, and we raised over $2000 CAD. Crazy right??)
- DRUMSTICKS - same as above.
- LAMINATES OR PASSES - VIP, Crew, All Access, etc.
- ANYTHING SIGNED - Photos, Setlists, Dressing room signs, CD’s, Posters - anything unique and signed by the band generate really amazing bids.
- T-SHIRTS or other merch items will generate awesome bids if they are signed. We do find if they can get the item online through an online merch store, and the item isn’t signed, it will only go for the online price or less.
- HANDWRITTEN & SIGNED LYRICS of fan-favorite songs on a piece of paper can raise a bunch!
- STAGE-WORN ITEMS - signed shirt, shoes, bandana, guitar strap, sweaty drum towel? Pairing it with a photo is always best to confirm authenticity.
- STAGE-USED DRUMHEADS - Signed by the band or artist
- GUITARS - yes, these types of donations are understandably few and far between, but I’d be an idiot not to put it on the list, right? For the Pop Punk Party 2, we were so excited to have an inexpensive, entry-level guitar donated and signed by all of the members of Slaughter to auction off - and we definitely learned a lot with that one. Even though the guitar raised over $500 USD, it could have done SO much better if I had thought to ask the guys to host the auction on the band’s social media page - or on Mark’s page. For any large or unique item, it will always fetch more when the auction is hosted where that band or artist’s fans are.
The following year, Ian Grushka hosted a ‘fan-painted and donated’ New Found Glory guitar auction on his Instagram, and it raised $2,000 USD for the Pop Punk Party 3. ... and for Pop Punk Party 4, Bowling For Soup blew that record out of the water, raising $3000 with another guitar auction hosted on their Instagram.
Items can be sent to Lisa at EGOpicks, or you can host the auction on your own social media. It's SUPER easy, and brings in much higher bids.
If you'd like to help out in any way, please email Lisa at egopicks@gmail.com
