Ukraine benefit concert a success, say organizers

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Crew at Ramsdell Regional Center for the Arts set the stage for one of the musical acts, with Ukrainian flags in the background, during the May 6 Together for Ukraine concert fundraiser. Courtesy photo.

Crew at Ramsdell Regional Center for the Arts set the stage for one of the musical acts, with Ukrainian flags in the background, during the May 6 Together for Ukraine concert fundraiser. Courtesy photo.

By Pat Stinson

Community members came together on May 6 and raised $10,000 during the “Together for Ukraine” concert fundraiser held at Manistee’s Ramsdell Regional Center for the Arts, according to Judy Jashinsky of Pines of Arcadia, the nonprofit art exhibition space and  residency program which spearheaded the event .  She added that 250 concert tickets were sold by the Ramsdell.

Songwriter and guitarist Jake Allen, of Gaylord, performs during the May 6 Together for Ukraine benefit concert at the Ramsdell Regional Center for the Arts in Manistee. Courtesy photo.
Songwriter and guitarist Jake Allen, of Gaylord, performs during the May 6 Together for Ukraine benefit concert at the Ramsdell Regional Center for the Arts in Manistee.  His music video, “Color in the Gray,” (videographer Jake Burgess,  concept by Judy Jashinsky) was shown during the event. Courtesy photo.

“I am so impressed by the response from our community to aid Ukrainians in their battle with Russian invaders,” Jashinsky wrote in a thank-you note to addressed to Xavier Verna, the executive director of the Ramsdell, and intended also for his staff and volunteers who helped coordinate the musical acts and more. “These brave (Ukrainian) citizens remind us that we can’t take freedom for granted.”

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Jashinsky added that seeing friends and neighbors during the gathering “means so much,” and the community “values the important role art plays under the circumstances.”

“We have seen and heard children singing in underground shelters, calming people who hear bombs overhead,” she wrote in the same note. “The musicians from northern Michigan who volunteered to perform for our concert shared music filled with compassion and joy … They made us feel less helpless.”

She also thanked community members for their support.

Sponsors of the events included Authentic 231, Blarney Castle Oil and Propane; Catanese Customs, LLC, General Contractors; Dunegrass Co.; Linke’s Body Shop, Inc.; Manistee Ford and Manistee Chevrolet; Barbara and Greg Morrison; Sports Ink; The Ramsdell Inn; Water’s Edge Dentistry; and WellFlower.

Proceeds from the benefit concert are earmarked for Razom for Ukraine, a crisis relief charity which is offering medical and hospital supplies and communication equipment during the war with Russia. Razom was founded by Ukrainian-American women.

MORE ABOUT THE CONCERT:
Musical fundraiser for Ukraine aims to bring community together

Pat Stinson is the founder and co-editor of Freshwater Reporter.

 

 

 

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