Annual Christmas concert benefits Ozarks Food Harvest
Evangel raised $1,400 and more than a ton of canned goods for Ozarks Food Harvest with its annual benefit Christmas concert on Friday, December 4, 2009. Hosted by KY3 News anchor Steve Grant and Stormteam meteorologist Brandon Beck, who are both graduates of Evangel, the concert offered 85 minutes of music from Evangel's premier music groups. The New Covenant Academy Choir, under the direction of Evangel alumna Dr. Vickie Wisdom also performed. David Smith, Evangel's director of theatre arts, did a dramatic presentation of a shepherd telling the miracle story of Christmas.
Two thousand people attended the concert. Admissions was a donation of non-perishable food items or cash for the Ozarks Food Harvest. Ozarks Food Harvest collects and distributes more than 5 million pounds of food annually to a network of more than 350 hunger relief agencies across 29 counties in southwest Missouri. It also offers direct relief through its Kids Cafe, Weekend Backpack Program, Club F.U.N., and Mobile Food Pantry programs.
Evangel's SIFE team (Students in Free Enterprise) partnered with the Music Department in marketing the concert and promoting the collection of canned goods. SIFE is involved in a yearlong "Let's Can Hunger" initiative, creating projects that tackle hunger issues in the Ozarks. Dr. Michael Kolstad, chairman of the Department of Music, said that for every dollar raised, Ozarks Food Harvest can provide five meals. "That translates to 7,000 meals provided through the concert," he says.
photos by Trevor Ekanger, Paul K. Logsdon and Woodie Moore
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