Howard Livingston Benefit Concert to Raise Funds for Children With Cancer

Howard Livingston and his Mile Marker 24 Band brought "Endless Summer" to the Tennessee Williams Theatre on the Key West campus of The College of the Florida Keys on March 31, performing a two-hour fundraiser that blended trop-rock music, local storytelling and original visuals in support of the Care Camps Foundation, a nonprofit that funds specialized summer camps for children diagnosed with cancer.

The show drew directly on Livingston's Monroe County roots. A longtime resident who purchased property on Summerland Key near Mile Marker 24 decades ago, Livingston built his catalog around Keys life, including songs like "Blame It On the Margaritas" and "Livin' On Key West Time." That local credibility gave the evening a hometown quality that translated to the 5901 College Road venue, where surprise guests joined the Mile Marker 24 Band on stage.

"The band and I are ready to rock the house and help some very special children along the way," Livingston said ahead of the performance.

The staging leaned into island kitsch with a purpose. Among the props: a 1952 Johnson outboard motor retrofitted into an oversized margarita blender, a flourish that captured the trop-rock sensibility Livingston has developed across multiple studio albums and national appearances.

Proceeds from the night went to the Care Camps Foundation, which organizes camp experiences tailored specifically to children battling cancer. The fundraiser fit a well-worn but effective pattern in the Keys, where local arts programming has long served double duty as entertainment and community giving.

Livingston's work sits squarely in the trop-rock tradition built by artists like Jimmy Buffett, a genre that filters Keys geography into a sun-soaked, storytelling-driven sound. With multiple CDs, national bookings and an audience that extends well beyond the island chain, he brought both the draw and the cause to the Tennessee Williams Theatre stage.