For those of you who missed the fun on Sunday, the "From Louisville with Love" benefit concert went off beautifully! The event brought in a sizeable cash donation for the Red Cross's Hurricane Katrina relief effort and many needed items for donation to the Wayside Christian Mission and the ASPCA.
I was amazed at the talent we have right here in Louisville -- the bands were terrific and the belly-dancers were simply mesmerizing! I've never seen such professionalism, talent, enthusiasm, and caring in one venue for 12 hours -- it was an amazing exercise in what can blossom from the heart and become reality.
Club Oasis turned out to be a perfect venue for this benefit. We had plenty of room and two stages to work with so that the concert could move rapidly from one band to the next. The music was just about continuous the whole day. I'm sure glad that the owner donated it for this benefit. It's one thing to lower the cost of renting the club and call that a donation but it's quite another to donate the full cost of opening and running the place for 14 hours! I'll patronize the club in the future just to say thanks. Other benefits that have been held to help the Katrina victims had to deduct "administrative expenses" from the total donations contributed at their events; we had to be the only event that donated 100% of every penny that came in that day.
Aside from money, some of the most precious gifts a person can give to others in need are their time and their talent; I saw more "donations" of time, talent, and money in one place on Sunday than I've ever seen in a life of volunteerism!
The bands volunteered both their time and their talents to this benefit concert to keep the overhead costs at zero; however, almost each and every band member made it a point to thank at least one of the volunteers for having asked them to be there. These professionals worked their tails off to set-up, entertain, and tear down all in a period of one hour and still after having given so much already, thanked us for asking them to be there!
The same was true of the volunteers and coordinators on this event. They didn't just stop at donating their time; they donated their own talents and much of their own money. The Red Cross, Wayside, and ASPCA really received so much in the way of the intangible donations of precious time and talent than they will ever know.
I am so very honored to been able to be a part of this benefit. I sure hope to work with these great folks on other causes in the future.
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