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The Miami music scene is diverse, tight-knit, and incredibly compassionate. Last year, bands from South Florida answered Shawn Snyder’s call to action and raised more than $5,000 at the first Skinny Dip, a concert held at Kitchen 305 to benefit melanoma research and awareness. He’s hoping to do it again this year with the help of 20-plus acts and the UM Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center.
In 2008, Snyder’s mother, Linda, lost a three-year battle with melanoma. It inspired him to raise awareness. “Nobody seems to want to talk about [melanoma], despite it having the fastest-growing incidence rate of all cancers,” he told New Times‘ Arielle Castillo last year. “It’s stuck with a black ribbon, a starkness that speaks on multiple levels.”
After the inaugural Skinny Dip, Snyder split the money between the national Melanoma Research Foundation and the West Palm Beach-based Richard David Kaan Melanoma Foundation. This year, however, he hopes to keep the money closer to home. “To increase the breadth and impact of funds raised, and to keep the money in our own back yard,” he explains, “we’ve entered this auspicious partnership with the Melanoma Program at UM Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center.”
