A simple Facebook post isn’t enough to express my gratitude from yesterday, so I might as well tell the entire story.
A couple of months back, as those in the blog world can remember, my company was the victim of a cowardly, pathetic attack from those searching oh so desperately for attention at my expense. After successfully disputing every bogus claim they made, in an effort to provide me with support and encouragement, my friend Matt Travers (of GhostxShip/Of Fortune & Fame status) came to me with an idea…
“We should do a benefit show for Syracuse Shows, with all local bands, to remind everyone that you work your ass off for us.”
Which in itself was incredibly thoughtful, but could potentially come off tacky and selfish and egotistical to the public. I am none of these, and with it spawned a significantly better idea…
“Nah man, that’s not the way to do it. Instead, why don’t we do a benefit show, and we’ll encourage donations. We can even do it so cheaply that if people bring enough stuff, the show can be free. That would be awesome.”
And we ran with it. We got some of the best bands Syracuse has going currently to all agree to surrender any compensation to encourage more kids to come out to the show for free, got Tim from Homeward to run sound and to donate his time and energy, and from there the event was born.
All we asked of you was simple:
- one non-perishable food item
- one article of clothing
- one new and unwrapped toy
And with those donations, the show was free. We rolled the dice on venue costs, worst it would cost was that rental, deducted with occasional cash payments at the door. Not everyone could donate, we understood that. We got people to help promote, we got word out, and yesterday showed up with three large boxes ready for some donations to help our community.
We were NOT prepared for you. And we couldn’t have been happier about it.
This morning, I got together with my good friend Dan Sieburg from the Rescue Mission (some of you can remember him affectionately as God Dan from The Furnace days) and dropped off my SUV filled from top to bottom (so much so that it was pretty not safe to drive) of your donations. What I learned was that food we donated this morning fed hungry families TONIGHT.
Say that again, to yourself, out loud.
Food YOU donated was able to feed hungry families in the Syracuse area TONIGHT.
YOU and your giving nature were responsible for assisting those in need RIGHT NOW.
YOU and your generosity provided a happy holiday for dozens of local children, families struggling but given the opportunity to for one day be reminded that the hearts of Syracuse are there for them.
Even writing this I struggle to maintain composure, I am so proud of all of you. Be proud of yourselves.
I personally want to extend my thanks to the following:
- To Travers, for coming up with the idea and busting his ass in making it work.
- To Thoughts In Reverse, Of Fortune & Fame, GhostxShip, All That Is Sacred, All The King’s Horses, and Give Us Jersey for donating your time to this event. Bands of friends who shared our desire to help.
- To Tim and Alec for setting up, running, and tearing down sound.
- To everyone who helped clean up after the show, and who helped load up my car.
- To everyone who shared the Facebook event and encouraged others to come and support the show.
And to you. To our scene. To our community. For coming out and showing each other and everyone out there that together - we can accomplish so much.
Please visit http://www.rmsyr.org/donations/ if you have additional donations you can make. Everything helps, and everything stays local and helps our community.
Your support was so phenomenal that we fully intend on doing this again next year. Thank you so much for everything you did. See you in 2013!
- Matt
www.syracuseshows.com
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