EAST CHICAGO | A concert will take place Friday to raise money to help injured troops contact their loved ones back home.

The concert, titled Hoosier Soldier, starts at 7 p.m. at Knights of Columbus Council 1700, 1104 Knights of Columbus Drive, off of Indianapolis Boulevard by the East Chicago South Shore station.

Entertainment will be provided by several local and regional artists including Soundz of Santana, Autumn Dawn, Sharman's Dust, Matt Schaefer, Titus Rodes and Steve Aguilar and John P.

Admission is $10. Attendees must be 21 and older with identification.

Proceeds will be used to buy prepaid phone cards that will be sent to wounded soldiers recovering at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany.

Landstuhl Regional Medical Center is a military casualty hospital outside Ramstein Air Force base that is operated by U.S. European Military Command.

Landstuhl is the primary medical evacuation facility for U.S. troops serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. The center also serves the needs of civilian family members in Europe and the Middle East.

Col. David McLean, the base's chaplain, expressed a serious need for phone cards for the injured troops. An outreach program was started by Indiana Secretary of State Todd Rokita in July 2007 as a way for all Hoosiers to directly help Indiana's service men and women.

For more information, call (219) 398-6700.

- The Times