Columbus area bands are coming together for a series of Haiti benefit concerts this month at Espresso Yourself Music Cafe in Powell, Ohio.

The benefit concerts were a collaborative idea among Living Hope Ministries, the owner of Espresso Yourself and a couple of local bands. All collaborators wanted to make greater efforts to help victims in Haiti.

Enrique Infante, a member of the Latin fusion band Dejavu, was overwhelmed when he saw photos of the destruction in Haiti. A native of Peru, Infante had organized a benefit concert after a 2007 earthquake in his native country. Already scheduled to play a concert at Espresso Yourself with his band, Infante contacted the coffee shop owner, Eric Ahlteen, with the idea of a benefit concert, Infante said.

When Ahlteen received the e-mail from Infante, he had already decided to have a benefit event for Haiti.

“When the earthquake hit, I called one of the people on the board of directors for the missions group [Living Hope Ministries] and asked her if there’s anything they wanted to do, and I would open my coffee shop as a forum,” Ahlteen said.

Ahlteen’s friends at Living Hope Ministries helped found the mission group in 1994. Since then, the group has established an orphanage, an elementary school, a trade school and an entrepreneurship program in Haiti.

After the recent earthquake, Living Hope mission workers have been helping to supply food and water and to repair buildings.

With a venue for the concerts and a means to deliver donations directly to Haiti, the event collaborators recruited bands.

“[All of the bands] have been very willing to support,” said Janelle Henderson, a graduate student at Ohio State and an organizer for the event. “They are donating their cover [charges] to Living Hope. Each band will be playing for just 30 to 40 minutes. We hope the bands will bring in a fan base — then we can get a lot of people.”

The bands playing range in musical style from Latin to acoustic to classic rock. So far there are seven bands scheduled to play at each concert, one concert every Saturday this month.

Espresso Yourself is a church turned artsy music café. It has a great vibe and a good family atmosphere, Ahlteen said. He believes this inviting atmosphere will encourage all kinds of people to help out the earthquake victims.

“No matter what happened to you today, yesterday [or] last month, there is always somebody who has it worse than you,” Ahlteen said. “If your family is buried under the rubble and you are the only one to pull them out, that’s a bad day. I don’t know if anybody here in the States can say they’ve had a bad day. Not being able to find parking; … that’s small stuff.”

The benefit concerts will be from 7 to 11 p.m. every Saturday. All donations will go to Living Hope Ministries to help victims of the Haiti earthquake. More event information and a list of participating bands can be found at espressoyourselfmusiccafe.com. For more information about Living Hope Ministries, go to livinghopehaiti.org.