# 3,909.86 euros donated to support musicians on GroupShirt Day / Article / LSM.lv

On Friday, August 28 “Group Shirt Days” During the year, more than two thousand calls were made to the donation phone, collecting a donation of 3,357.86 euros to cover the medical expenses of the Latvian popular music singer Gunārs Meijers. The total amount of donations – both targeted donations to G. Meijer from the donation phone, and support for other musicians in difficulty through the charity e-shop “Fonds therskaņa” website – is 3,909.86 euros. –

In the fourth year of the campaign, there was also a record-breaking activity in social networks – almost 800 pictures with favorite musicians’ T-shirts were published, using the #GrupuKrekluDiena theme. It is a special pleasure that organizations and companies are starting to join the #GroupShirtDay movement, turning the last Friday of August into a joint office holiday!

The group shirt day was organized by Latvian Radio music channels – Latvian popular music channel Latvijas Radio 2, the initiators of the initiative Latvijas Radio 5 – Pieci.lv and the alternative music radio station NABA in cooperation with the non-governmental organization “Fonds līdzskaņa”. The project partner “Fonds līdzskaņa” was founded in 2016 with the aim of providing support to musicians in difficulty.

“Many thanks to the colleagues of Latvian Radio, as well as to all those who helped to implement the” Group Shirt Day “on an even larger scale by putting on group shirts, listening to music and donations! We are very happy that together we can help musician Gunārs Meijers to improve the quality of everyday life and support other Latvian artists who have faced various life challenges. On this day, we felt broad public support and enjoyed the sincerity that dwells in each of us. See you next year on “Group Shirt Day 2021!”, “Shares Liena Grīna, the head of” Fonda measure “.

In turn, the editor-in-chief of Latvijas Radio 2 Kaspars Mauriņš admits: “The feeling of work is well done. Who else but Latvia’s most listened to radio would come to the aid of musicians. The cornerstones of our radio station are songs in their native language, patriotic listeners and favorite broadcast personalities. We can only go further together, knowing full well that a public thank you and a donated euro provide satisfaction and motivation for all of us. We sincerely wish Gunārs a successful recovery! ”.

The Meijer donation phone will run until 17. September

The donation phone to support Gunārs Meijers will be active for almost three more weeks, until September 17. Phone number: 90006480 (call fee is 1.42 EUR).

Gunārs Meijers has been facing serious health problems since the beginning of the year and the need to ask for financial support to cover medical expenses. The musician has type 2 diabetes, which affects mobility difficulties. Doctors have found significant narrowing of blood vessels, which severely affects the health of the legs with a high risk of amputation. The musician also needs eye surgery, specialized medication, specialist visits and rehabilitation. The total cost of treatment is measured in several thousand euros.

#GroupShirtDay’s most played musicians

Mārtiņš Makreckis, music editor of Latvijas Radio 5 – Pieci.lv, says that during the #GrupuKrekluDiena, more than 80 songs of T-shirt musicians published on social networks by fans were played on the air. Among the most popular and favorite artists were “Brainstorm”, Ozols and “The Sound Poets”. In turn, “Chipsis and Dullais”, “Orange Holidays” and “Juuk” appeared most often in the music of radio NABA “T-shirts”.

Data collected on social media with the topic #GroupShirtDay shows that almost 800 pictures of fans have been published this year. The highest activity – about 75% – was on the Instagram platform. This year, not only individual fans, but also companies and organizations, including the information technology company Infogr.am, RSU Red Cross Medical College, Riga Distance Learning Secondary School team, engineering competence center CMB, public relations agency Vīlands, have become more actively involved in the music support movement. Associates ”and others.

About #GroupShirtDay project

The #GrupuKrekluDienas initiative in Latvia was launched four years ago by the youth multimedia platform Latvijas Radio 5 – Pieci.lv, inspired by the Estonian public media pop music radio “Raadio 2”. A similar campaign to support musicians is taking place elsewhere in the world. From one channel activity, the support event for musicians has grown into an ambitious collaboration project. Since last year, a partnership has been launched with the Fonds Pikskaņa, which has been established to provide assistance to musicians in difficulty. Last year, 4005 euros were donated as part of the Group Shirt Day, of which four musicians have already been helped through the “Fonds therskaņa” – the group “Juuk” and the ensemble “Manta” member Raitis Viļumovs and his family, the founder and soloist of the group “Dodo” Ģirts Koknevics, singer and vocal teacher Inga Puhova and long-time performer of the Latvian Radio and TV Stage and Light Music Orchestra Valda Rudzite.

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