When Linda Bruce and her family created Soul Jam several years ago, the idea was simple.
“It started just because our family wanted to have an opportunity to have a fundraiser where we could give back a little bit,” Bruce said.
The outdoor music festival at Soulful Prairies, a farm in rural Woodstock owned by the Bruce family, is returning in early September. This year, all the net proceeds from the event will benefit Family Health Partnership Clinic, a Crystal Lake-based nonprofit that provides medical care to underserved patients in McHenry County.
This is the first time the clinic will receive funding from the festival, which is now in its third year. Soul Jam, which features local bands, food trucks and artisans, benefits a different charity or nonprofit each year.
“I’ve gotten to know a few of the people [at Family Health Partnership Clinic],” Bruce said. “Because we raised our kids in Park Ridge, I’m connected in that area. I wanted to find some place local that people in the Woodstock area would identify with.”
The festival will include performances from Generation, Kim Schaefer, The Evening Attraction, Bag of Jammers and more. Bruce said the performers “lean kind of pop-rock, and then country.”
“Everybody in our family loves music, and we thought that would be a cool thing, to get some local bands and have a day full of music,” Bruce said.
Cathy Patenaude is the manager of development at Family Health Partnership Clinic. She said the money her organization receives from Soul Jam will go toward funding direct patient care.
“[The fundraiser] helps us not only from the funding aspect, but it also brings awareness, which is very important to our cause,” Patenaude said.
Soul Jam has grown from its first festival in 2015, when about 200 to 250 people attended, Bruce said. She hopes the event will attract about 500 attendees this year.
Bruce’s family and friends have pitched in to organize Soul Jam, and Family Health Partnership Clinic has helped to promote the event and track down volunteers.
“We really appreciate the Bruce family and their hard work and their desire to support our clinic patients,” Patenaude said. “It’s appreciated by our staff and our board of directors.”
Soul Jam will take place from 1:30 to 8 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 9, at Soulful Prairies, 4706 Alden Road. Tickets are $55 for people ages 21 and older, $45 for people under 21, and free for people 10 and younger. To buy tickets, visit soulfulprairies.com.