Five Finger Death Punch members Zoltan Bathory (guitars) and Chris Kael (bass) lend a helping hand to the Down Syndrome Bowl-A-Thon's 2016 Tour Of Champions on February 21st from 1:30 - 4 PM. The event will be held at The Boardwalk Bowl Entertainment Center in Orlando, FL. (see latest band photo attached)

The band’s goal is to bring awareness to the cause, bowl with fans and donate materials for a silent auction. This is just a continuation of 5FDP's history of charity work, always being a band to give back to fans and organizations that they believe make a difference throughout the world. The band have been involved in running suicide prevention campaigns and PTSD awareness campaigns and also raised money for veterans.

Zoltan Bathory states: "We are in the fortunate situation of being able to do what we love to do and fulfill our dreams, but we didn’t get here alone. We haven’t forgotten where we came from, and it is our duty to give back by leveraging our success and ultimately providing meaningful support and assistance to those in need.”

The Down Syndrome Foundation Of Florida (The Foundation) is a non-profit organization whose vision is to not only support and help families and individuals with Down Syndrome, but also help the community experience and appreciate the gifts our loved ones bring to their peers, friends and neighbors. They believe when potential is given opportunity the outcome is success.

On February 21st, The Foundation is hosting their annual Tour of Champions Valentine's Bowl-A-Thon. Last year’s Bowl-A-Thon was a huge success raising $225,000 (with only $7,500 in expenses!); their goal this year is to raise $250,000! The Foundation is run 100% by volunteers, so all proceeds go directly to their programs.

They began with a simple scholarship program that primarily offered community scholarships that promote peer-to-peer inclusion. The foundation quickly saw additional needs emerge and expanded our scholarship program to include scholarships for academic tutoring, speech therapy and swimming lessons. In 6 years, they have awarded over 360 scholarships totaling almost $250,000!

Here are just a few of the programs they offered in 2015 and plan to continue in 2016:

- iCan Bike - bike camp for 40 people ages 8 and up with various abilities to teach them to ride a two-wheel bike
- iCan Work program to help individuals with DS receive job training and coaching to gain and keep meaningful employment
- iCan communicate—a comprehensive language program to help people learn to communicate with peers, family and teachers using the iPad
- iCan! The Learning Program – a research based program teaching effective strategies and providing customized materials to support parents, teachers and children in the educational process
- Parent Information meetings, Camping Trip, Holiday Party, Skate Night, Mom’s Night Out

Over $50,000 in scholarships for academic tutoring, oral motor evaluations, swim lessons, and community activities.

Additional information at this location.

Five Finger Death Punch will team up with Shinedown for a series of co-headlining shows this May, in conjunction with all of their performances at the biggest US festivals of the year (see below for complete touring schedule). For more info and VIP offerings go to this location.

Tour dates:

April
30 - Ft. Myers, FL - Fort Rock Festival

May
1 - Jacksonville, FL - Welcome To Rockville
3 - Evansville, IN - Ford Center (co-headlining with Shinedown)
4 - Grand Rapids, MI - Van Andel Arena (co-headlining with Shinedown)
6- Virginia Beach, VA- WNOR Lunatic Luau Festival
7 - Charlotte, NC - Carolina Rebellion Festival
9 - Pittsburgh, PA - Consol Energy Arena (co-headlining with Shinedown)
20-22 - Columbus, OH - Rock On The Range
20-22 - Schaghticoke, NY - Rock’N Derby
27-29 - Pryor, OK - Rocklahoma Festival

“Wash It All Away”, FFDP’s second single from their recently released album, Got Your Six, quickly climbed the Active Rock radio charts and recently went #1. The striking, live performance music video for “Wash It All Away” was shot by iconic music video director Wayne Isham (Metallica, Mötley Crüe). The clip was filmed at the band’s recent headlining show at Mohegan Sun Arena (Uncasville, CT) and showcases their highly visual stage show, and the contagious energy that fuels the thousands of rabid fans in attendance.

Five Finger Death Punch also recently received the prestigious Soldier Appreciation Award from The Association of the United States Army. The award was founded in 1950 by the then newly founded AUSA. This was based on having Germany and Europe stationed US troops that had a hard standing in the public. The soldiers had been under hard pressure and so the AUSA founded the Award to honor the organizations and/or people who supported the troops to make their daily life more easy and comfortable.

Zoltan Bathory (guitars) states: “The Soldiers Appreciation Award is something very special. The only musician ever to receive this was Elvis Presley. Clearly what we have to say resonates with a lot of veterans and a lot of service members. To know that we are reaching people and touching their lives with our music is very rewarding, and to me this really is the sole purpose of being a musician — to be able to make a positive impact in somebody’s life.”