An AMAZING Benefit Concert Turnout
I don't even know how to begin this entry, because putting into words the amount of love and generosity I saw displayed last night would not be possible. To say the very least, last night's benefit concert at the Arabian Knights Barn was a success beyon what we could have imagined.
My job was clicking the counter as each person paid when they entered the Barn, after which Lauren would draw a cute little "J" on each person's hand. The number kept rising. 100, 200, almost 300 clicks, and little J's later, we could hardly believe the turnout on a Tuesday with such short notice! Upon entrance, an employee of the Barn collected the $10 entry fee, the majority of which went to our mom's cause. But I lost count of how many people said "where can I bring the rest of my donation?". So aside from the $10 cost of the ticket, so many people wanted to do something more.
We had a table set up where people could read our blog updates, take a thank you flyer with the blogspot website on it, write little encouraging notes to my mom, look at pictures, or make a donation to her cancer fund. Aside from this, one of our brother Georgie's friends, Jess, has this amazing mother who was walking around the entire night with a bucket asking for donations from everyone she talked to. Which I think by night's end was... well, everyone. Many thanks to her for that effort, we are truly grateful. The big white donation box from the table has not even yet been opened yet and we have already counted over $3500 in donations!! And let me tell you, this big white box is BIG and FULL from what I could tell. Also towards the end of the night a life sized signed poster of The Plain White T's and the other bands (donated by a club owner who designed it, printed it and drove it in from Lacrosse, WI where he lives. 8 hours round trip, he never met my Mom, just a kind-hearted man who wanted to show his support) was auctioned off to the highest bidder, which ended up being the Arabian Knights Barn at $375 bucks!! That entire amount went to my mom. Amazing. A huge thank you to the Barn!
The bands all gave awesome performances, and the crowd was very warm and receptive to all of them. I always enjoy watching my brothers perform, so that was just an added treat for me. Our brother Daniel's last song of The Fold's set was my favorite, as it was a very pretty, accoustic song called Stay. This is not a new song and was not written about my mom that I know of, but one line kept ringing in my head and giving me the chills: "Stay where you are, time will pass as this falls away". Originally the lyrics are slightly different ("time will pass as they fall away") but I think I noticed he changed it up a little, maybe so it could be directed to our mom, and I liked it. It was encouraging and beautiful and I was very proud. And if it wasn't on purpose, well... good change up anyway, Dan! The show was video taped and many pictures were taken, so hopefully my mom can experience it as though she was there.
The final band to perform, the Plain White T's, has been a force on the local band scene for many years now, and they have been growing bigger and bigger in popularity as time has passed. They now tour nationally and are getting regular radio play on the biggest radio station in Los Angeles! Tom Higgenson is the front man of this band, and he went to high school with us, in Daniel's class. We used to be in plays together back in the day, and him and Daniel ran in the same circles, so my mom knew him during those younger years. Tom was in a bad car accident several years ago and he was hurt pretty badly. When he was in the hospital my mom came to visit him. She brought him a Bible and prayed with him. Obviously Tom was touched by this, as he told this story last night to all of his fans, friends, and family, and used his notoriety among the Plain White T's following, to encourage everyone to open their pockets and give my mom something back. I was so grateful and touched by this, as it goes to show you that little gestures like the one my mom extended are always remembered. I hope Tom and the T's will check this blog so I can tell them again... Thank you for being so kind, and sharing what a wonderful person our mom is with so many people who may not know.
As Greg said in his entry, you normally can't equate money with love. It won't cure my mom's cancer, as only God can do that. But in this situation, it was the act of donating money that showed us the love, generosity, and eagerness to help from SO many! It is sure to touch my mom's heart and hopefully give her some added strength to keep fighting this battle. This money will go to good use, on a woman who really, truly deserves it. So to all who came out last night, and opened your hearts and your wallets... thank you, thank you, thank you, from ALL of us! This night of encouragement and support came at a time when we really needed it. We love you and thank God for you.
My job was clicking the counter as each person paid when they entered the Barn, after which Lauren would draw a cute little "J" on each person's hand. The number kept rising. 100, 200, almost 300 clicks, and little J's later, we could hardly believe the turnout on a Tuesday with such short notice! Upon entrance, an employee of the Barn collected the $10 entry fee, the majority of which went to our mom's cause. But I lost count of how many people said "where can I bring the rest of my donation?". So aside from the $10 cost of the ticket, so many people wanted to do something more.
We had a table set up where people could read our blog updates, take a thank you flyer with the blogspot website on it, write little encouraging notes to my mom, look at pictures, or make a donation to her cancer fund. Aside from this, one of our brother Georgie's friends, Jess, has this amazing mother who was walking around the entire night with a bucket asking for donations from everyone she talked to. Which I think by night's end was... well, everyone. Many thanks to her for that effort, we are truly grateful. The big white donation box from the table has not even yet been opened yet and we have already counted over $3500 in donations!! And let me tell you, this big white box is BIG and FULL from what I could tell. Also towards the end of the night a life sized signed poster of The Plain White T's and the other bands (donated by a club owner who designed it, printed it and drove it in from Lacrosse, WI where he lives. 8 hours round trip, he never met my Mom, just a kind-hearted man who wanted to show his support) was auctioned off to the highest bidder, which ended up being the Arabian Knights Barn at $375 bucks!! That entire amount went to my mom. Amazing. A huge thank you to the Barn!
The bands all gave awesome performances, and the crowd was very warm and receptive to all of them. I always enjoy watching my brothers perform, so that was just an added treat for me. Our brother Daniel's last song of The Fold's set was my favorite, as it was a very pretty, accoustic song called Stay. This is not a new song and was not written about my mom that I know of, but one line kept ringing in my head and giving me the chills: "Stay where you are, time will pass as this falls away". Originally the lyrics are slightly different ("time will pass as they fall away") but I think I noticed he changed it up a little, maybe so it could be directed to our mom, and I liked it. It was encouraging and beautiful and I was very proud. And if it wasn't on purpose, well... good change up anyway, Dan! The show was video taped and many pictures were taken, so hopefully my mom can experience it as though she was there.
The final band to perform, the Plain White T's, has been a force on the local band scene for many years now, and they have been growing bigger and bigger in popularity as time has passed. They now tour nationally and are getting regular radio play on the biggest radio station in Los Angeles! Tom Higgenson is the front man of this band, and he went to high school with us, in Daniel's class. We used to be in plays together back in the day, and him and Daniel ran in the same circles, so my mom knew him during those younger years. Tom was in a bad car accident several years ago and he was hurt pretty badly. When he was in the hospital my mom came to visit him. She brought him a Bible and prayed with him. Obviously Tom was touched by this, as he told this story last night to all of his fans, friends, and family, and used his notoriety among the Plain White T's following, to encourage everyone to open their pockets and give my mom something back. I was so grateful and touched by this, as it goes to show you that little gestures like the one my mom extended are always remembered. I hope Tom and the T's will check this blog so I can tell them again... Thank you for being so kind, and sharing what a wonderful person our mom is with so many people who may not know.
As Greg said in his entry, you normally can't equate money with love. It won't cure my mom's cancer, as only God can do that. But in this situation, it was the act of donating money that showed us the love, generosity, and eagerness to help from SO many! It is sure to touch my mom's heart and hopefully give her some added strength to keep fighting this battle. This money will go to good use, on a woman who really, truly deserves it. So to all who came out last night, and opened your hearts and your wallets... thank you, thank you, thank you, from ALL of us! This night of encouragement and support came at a time when we really needed it. We love you and thank God for you.
posted by Becky Castady | 11:27 AM
5 Comments:
I am greatly touched by the success of the benefit concert last night, but I am not all that surprised. My dear friend has always been surrounded by considerate, caring, and selfless people who love her.
I chose to visit with Jeanette in the hospital rather than attending the fundraiser because I knew it would be a good time to see her without taking up any family time. I sat and talked with George, Sharon, Kathi and Cathy, and I felt as though I had made an excellent decision to see her and stroke her arm and forehead. Like family members, and so many friends, I am drawn to be near her. I like to believe that my touch and prayers are giving her strength, but I think it is Jeanette herself who has strengthened me.
I will continue to pray for her and her incredibally loving family. After all, I love her, too.
Patty
OH! God is SO amazing and SO good! I am ecstatic that it went so well and completely overwhelmed as I am sure you all are. I wish so badly that I could have been there but I prayed so hard for an amazing turn out and God truly answered! Love you!!
This is beautiful and it's killin me, man. I am so touched by this. By all of this. Best to you all. Families are the best...the only...thing.
Hey, My dad is a pastor and last year was diagnosed with Stage four liver cancer. After several surgerys and chemo, there was still a large ammount of tumors in the liver ...too numerous to count.
So we prayed.
And prayed.
We had several healing services.
The next time he went to the doctor, the tumors were gone, and the largest ones had shrunk so small they were almost unnoticeable. So when surgery came, they could only find one tumor, because the other had shrunk beyond existance..and he was healed by God from Stage four cancer.
Last month he was diagnosed with the same cancer again, this past Wednesday he had surgery to remove the two tumors that had resurfaced again. He came home from recovery in the hospital the other day, and is physically weak but spiritually strong. One of the strongest people I know dealing with this.
The power of prayer works miracles, and we know that God gave us Christians the power to heal. Every christian. It would be an awesome idea to have a healing service for your mother, if you haven't already.
And check into the M.D. Anderson Cancer center if you havent already.
http://www.mdanderson.org/
markwalz@gmail.com
www.myspace.com/themarque
I'm glad there was such a huge turnout!
Your mom, and family, are in my prayers every second of every day!
God Bless!
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