Nashville: Benefit Concert Moving Forward
March 19th, 2008 | Posted by Yousuf AhmadHailey and I have been working very hard, trying to balance school and other extracurriculars with this great project. Thankfully, with the support of our community and teamwork, we have been able to cover a lot of ground in the past months. We have been trying to raise community funds (which will go directly to No More Victims), sponsorship funds (to help cover our $2000+ operational concert costs at Rocketown), and awareness for the concert. We intend for all of the ticket sales from the concert to be sent to No More Victims.
With my position as Chair of the Mayor’s Youth Council, Hailey and I decided to introduce this initiative to the MYC. Hailey and I presented our cause along with a power point to the Council, who were very accepting and enthusiastic about what we’re doing. The MYC is composed of juniors and seniors from almost all public high schools as well as some private ones in Nashville. They are a great resource for spreading the word and selling concert tickets to students at high schools around the city. After the presentation, many on the council volunteered to sell tickets .
Hailey and I have had a very fruitful and unique friendship. Hailey, a Christian girl, and I, a Muslim boy, have been able to learn a lot about each other’s religion. We want to show Nashville how interfaith dialog and relationships can be amazingly productive and meaningful ties that will last and promote understanding and unity. With this, we have sought to promote our cause as an interfaith initiative.
Hailey and I presented to a youth group and an adult group at the Belmont United Methodist Church. Both youth and adults were very enthusiastic about the cause and especially about its interfaith nature. That night, not only did we raise awareness about our cause, but we generated ticket sales and sponsorship funds. The adults ended up donating $285.00
I also worked with the management of the Islamic Center of Nashville to set up a time where I could address the entire Friday congregation about our cause. I was given a 2 minute time slot after prayers to give a speech. After the speech, everyone left to go back to work and within a matter of 15 minutes the Mosque was empty. Within a matter of 15 minutes, we ended up raising $3000 for No More Victims.
We have been appealing to many other organizations and businesses around Nashville. So far, the Oasis Center, Shalimar Restaurant, Adventure Works, two Churches, and generous Nashvillians have all contributed funds towards our operational and community funds.
We have been sending out press releases to many local news venues to raise awareness. So far our cause has been covered in the print and online version of the Tennessean:
We are also scheduled to be covered on NPR in the coming weeks.
Hailey has been working extremely hard to book popular local bands to perform at the concert. Through her hard work, we have completed the band list. The performers are as follow:
Volaire
Lace and Ash
Brenn
Trenton
The Willises
Blue Cadet-3
Broken Frame
Backseat Goodbye
Jonell Mosser
Billy Simon
General Hum
And More!
Oasis Center has generously agreed to take care of more than $500 in operational costs. They have also been extremely helpful in creating and printing flyers for our concert. Flyers will be out soon!
This is just a few of the things that Hailey and I have been working on lately. We still need to raise more funds for the operational costs of the concert. If you’d like to donate, please write your checks out to “Rocketown” and send them to “1812 Castlemen Dr. Nashville, TN 37215″. All donations are tax deductible.
The concert is almost here! April 18th at Rocketown from 6pm-11pm.
NMV Directors Respond to “Benefit Concert Moving Forward”
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April 6th, 2008 at 2:37 pm