Eric Knight woke up in the middle of the night several months ago with a brainstorm . He quickly grabbed the pen and note pad that he always keeps on his night stand and jotted down , “ give to the Gulf , ” then went back to sleep . This random act was the impetus for the “ Give to the Gulf” relief effort , a collaboration of area businessmen and musicians to raise money for those residents of the Gulf area that have been devastated by the oil spill .

On April 20 , 2010 the oil rig Deepwater Horizon , owned by British Petroleum , experienced a catastrophic explosion that killed 11 workers . The blast caused an oil line to rupture that has since spewed thousands of gallons of crude into the Gulf waters that has had a serious impact on the environment , wildlife , the fishing industry , and tourism .

Knight , an inventor , scientist and founder of Remarkable Technologies , Inc ., attempted to contact BP with an invention he had that he believed could repair the leak .

“ A lot of others had the same idea I had , so I decided to help these people in another way , ” he said . “ Everybody loves music , so why not gather musicians , much like Farm Aid , to make an album that people can access online . A person can buy a song , or several songs , and the proceeds would go directly to those in need in the Gulf . ”

Knight contacted his friends Tom Russo and Paul Lombardo of the East Hartford-based L&R Productions to get the musical part of his idea up and running . Meanwhile , he also contacted Maryland resident Mike Sokol of JMS Productions , and the “ Give to the Gulf ” team was born .

Sokol created the online model for the website and , with his contacts at ITunes , the website became a reality .

“ I approached Eric and told him that Paul and I could write songs and help raise the bar of awareness of what’s happening down there , ” said Russo . “ His invention got placed on the back burner , and the musical idea began to grow . The rest is history . ”

Five of the 11 tunes in the first volume on the website belong to Lombardo and Russo , just to ensure there would be enough music for people to possibly purchase , and get the site up and running , according to Russo . The team chose the United Way as the charity to receive the donations . The worldwide organization had already established a fund for the victims of hurricane Katrina that slammed into the Louisiana coastline in 2005 .

“ We are the facilitators , ” commented Knight . “ We never touch the money , a person buys a tune , and it goes directly to the United Way . Also , the United Way has created a model , based on ‘ Give to the Gulf , ’ that can be used in the event of future disasters . This way , musicians can band together , and get help to an area within a day . So , we created something much larger . ”

The team is already working on a second volume . They put out a call to action to musicians , and the response has been overwhelming .

“ This is made up entirely of volunteers , ” said Russo . “ We certainly hope a national act will take notice , and help us out . Myself , Paul , and a guy named Bill Holloman , wrote the theme song . ”

“ All the artists who submit a song , still own all the rights to that song , ” explained Lombardo . “ But on this site , with every purchase someone makes , their royalties go to United Way to help in the relief effort . ”

Everyone involved in “ Give to the Gulf” is quick to say that it was a team effort . With Lombardo and Russo on the musical side , and Knight and Sokol on the technical end , the project took off quickly .

“ This is not an anti BP message , ” remarked Nancy Aborn Wuennemann , media contact for the organization . “ It is a pro-American message . If what happened in the Gulf , happened in Long Island Sound , wouldn’t we want other Americans helping us ?”

For more info on how to donate to the Gulf , go to http : // www . givetothegulf . org .