Benefit Concert Planned For Sunday
By Nicholas L. Dean ndean@post-journal.comArea students will donate their time and talents this Sunday as part of Notes For Hope — a concert benefiting St. Susan Center.
Brainstorming with one of the organization’s vendors, Judy Christian, executive director, said she and Jerry Costanini came up with the idea of having a community music showcase to raise money for Jamestown’s soup kitchen.
‘‘It’s one of the things that I get concerned about,’’ Christian said about fundraising. ‘‘We don’t want to continually be asking for money from the community. And with this, we can bring the community together in a sort of celebration. ... It has a dual purpose.’’
According to Christian, once contacted, the many area school districts and students were eager to become a part of the benefit concert. Response was so overwhelming, that St. Susan Center is considering making the concert an annual event.
‘‘In truth, we would have been in trouble if everyone who wanted to participate ended up being able to do so,’’ Christian admitted. ‘‘Even the Reg wouldn’t have been big enough. So many of the local schools wanted to participate, but it didn’t work out with their scheduled. We’re already talking about maybe doing an outdoor music festival next year.’’
Scheduled for Sunday at the Reg Lenna Civic Center, Notes For Hope will run from 4 to 6 p.m. Tickets will be sold at the door.
Serving food since Feb. 1, 1984, St. Susan Center opened the doors of its new home on Water Street on July 10, 2006. The Water Street location is located in the Gateway Center. Since the 2006 opening, nearly 200,000 meals have been served. Center staff and board members had hoped that the number of guests served would cease growing and level off, but that has not happened yet. Last month alone, St. Susan Center served 11,320 meals.
‘‘The numbers are just sky high,’’ Christian said. ‘‘We’re already 30 percent more than where we were last year at this same time, which is pretty scary since we served over 106,000 meals last year.’’
Participants in this Sunday’s concert include Jamestown High School Orchestra, Southwestern High School Chorus, Jamestown Suzuki Strings, Panama Middle School Band, Southwestern High School Band, Jamestown High School Symphonic Band, Infinity’s Jazz Quartet, Two Men and a Tenor, plus special guest musicians.
Tickets for the event are $5 for reserved seating and are available through the Reg Lenna box office and at St. Susan Center.
