Voices of Hope

Last night, I had the honor and privilege of performing at Boston’s historic Symphony Hall as part of a concert called Voices of Hope. VOH is a fundraising effort for cancer research in conjunction with the Expect Miracles Foundation and Mutual Funds Against Cancer. The first VOH concert was held last year, at a small venue in Winchester, with a cast of about 30 and an audience of about 150. This year, the concert moved to Symphony Hall, with a cast and crew of over 100 and an audience of around 1,000.

The core cast and production staff of VOH had been working for months selecting, orchestrating and choreographing numbers, rehearsing songs and dances, organizing the program order, writing and editing personal stories, and of course, fundraising, fundraising, fundraising. They held a yard sale with donated designer clothing. They made and sold jewelry. They recruited donations for a silent auction. They held fundraising sales. They sold tickets. They set up information booths in the lobby of every area performance that would let them in. They hung posters, passed out business cards, and talked up the cause and the concert at every opportunity. And all their hard work paid off. I don’t have the final fundraising tally, but the goal was $50,000 (double the amount raised last year), and if they haven’t reached it yet, hopefully they will within just a few weeks.

I’ll admit up front that I’m not a fundraising type person. I’m not comfortable asking for money, even for a good cause. And this is truly a good cause. So I’m grateful that there are so many others who are willing to speak up and speak out. And I’m grateful that I could participate in some small way by singing last night. After all, everyone can help this cause in their own way.

Some help by performing.

Some help by buying tickets and being in the audience.

Some help by creating publicity.

Some help by donating. If you, my reader, are interested in making a donation towards cancer research, you can donate $10 by simply texting the word “miracles” to 85944 on your cell phone. If you’re interested in learning more about this organization, or about other ways you can help support this important cause, please see the VOH website at http://www.singoutforacure.org/.

Oh yeah – there’s one more really good reason to support this cause. That would be so our children, and our children’s children, will never have to lose sleep worrying that cancer will take away someone that they love. And that’s the best reason of all.