So far, the Dubé Brothers have raised $43,000 for Haiti. A private donor will match every dollar they raise up to $50,000.
They may not be old enough to get a job, but with the way things are going, four young local rock stars may never need one.
They’re known as the Dubé Brothers – a band made up of siblings Liam Dubé, 12, Jan Dubé, 11, Quinn Dubé, 9, and their friend, Sandro Ragusa, 13.
In their debut years, they played concerts to raise money for cancer research after their mother Michelle died of the disease in 2008.
But after an earthquake devastated Haiti in January, the boys decided to shift their charitable focus.
Their latest gig was a fundraising concert for children in Haiti, held at the Raw Sugar Café on Somerset Street West in two weeks ago.
Rob Dubé, the boys’ father, said along with raising money for a good cause, the boys are trying to set an example for other kids.
“They’re kids empowering themselves to take action to become responsible, active, involved, to change things, to empower and inspire other kids,” says Dubé.
The concert was the most recent of a series of fundraisers for Haiti held in Centretown.
The Christ Cathedral Church, Babylon nightclub and the Centretown Community Health Centre have all held fundraisers to assist the stricken Caribbean island.
The Dubé Brothers concert packed the Raw Sugar Café to capacity as they played well past their bedtime.
Donations were made throughout the night and even afterwards when fans opened their wallets to take pictures with the boys.
In the end, the concert raised $2,000 on top of the $41,000 they had raised already through other shows and donations.
Craig Senior, who attended the concert, said he was impressed with the boys.
“The crowd was singing along, it was great,” says Senior. “I was the Ottawa representative last year in the Sears National Kids Cancer Ride and the best I ever did at a concert was $900.”
If the private donor who will match every dollar the boys raise up to $50,000 is factored in, they are only $14,000 shy of their $100,000 goal.
The boys’ father says it still hasn’t sunk in.
“We don’t even stop long enough to seriously think about that,” says Rob Dubé.
“It’s a lot of money.”
Jan, the band’s lead singer and bassist, said it’s not always easy playing in a band with your brothers.
“We more don’t get along than we do get along,” says Jan.
In reality, every band has its drama. But the Dubé Brothers want to experience all the realities of a musician’s life.
“We’re in the middle of writing one of our own songs right now,” says Jan. “It’s weird cause you have be like inspired, you can’t just – bam – write a song just like that.”
Along with meeting their goal of $100,000, the boys have other big plans.
They envision playing fundraising concerts for hospitals around the world and then visiting them, a cross-Canada tour or even making a movie.
“I’d like to make a documentary about the lives of some kids who had an event happen to them when they were young and who one way or another wound up deciding not to turn that event into an excuse for the rest of their lives,” says Rob Dubé.
When Quinn looks ahead, his goal for the band is simple.
“Be famous,” he says.