Local bands performed last night in downtown Bowling Green to help pay for a young boy’s medical expenses and raise organ donor awareness.

Hearsay Tao, RHSC, Tri-Nimbus and WithWingsWeRise played for an hour each at Howards Club H, beginning at 9 p.m. yesterday. All proceeds from the event, sponsored by WFAL-AM, will benefit Nolan Keller, a two-year-old boy from Toledo who recently underwent a life-saving liver transplant. Keller was diagnosed with Alagilles Syndrome when he was six weeks old. “I think it’s great that a music event like this can help a child,” Joanna Hammer, production director of WFAL, said. “I really appreciate the bands doing this, because they’re not getting paid for the concert — they’re just doing it out of the goodness of their hearts.”

WFAL was approached by Nolan’s family in November 2002, and has been helping to raise money for the boy ever since. “I hope that by running all this, we’re taking some of the stress off the family and are letting them know that someone’s there for them when they need it,” Hammer said.

Last night’s concert is not the only event planned by WFAL to raise money for Nolan. Last winter, the station began to play public service announcements on the air asking for donations to help Keller’s family pay his medical bills.

Another benefit concert is planned for April 6 at Headliners. Later this spring, WFAL is planning a jock strap run, where participants are sponsored to jog around campus wearing jock straps, to raise additional funds for Keller.

“The jock strap run is always done for a charitable cause, so this year we decided to have it benefit Nolan,” Jack Crumley, general manager of WFAL, said.

The radio station hopes to raise a total of $100,000, the estimated cost of Keller’s medical expenses including post-transplant care, by the end of this semester.

“It’s a lot of money to raise, but you can’t put a price on Nolan’s life,” Hammer said.

“We’re very happy to be doing this,” Crumley said. “It’s absolutely our pleasure.”