January 26, 2006. Mathis Auditorium.

Can't get enough of your favorite local band? Come to Mathis Auditorium on Thursday, January 26th from 7-10 pm, and for only $3 you can listen to Blackeyed Katy, Wilson Empire, Heath Deloach Band, and Soular Seven! You will have the chance to win door prizes, take home band merchandise, and help out a non-profit organization do a lot of good for people in our community!

•I heard about the United Way event through my job at Best Buy. A co-worker, Shannon Hauser, was responsible for setting up the event, and she was glad to let me help her.

•The event initially caught my attention because it was an excellent community service project, and it dealt with music. As soon as I heard about the campaign I jumped at the chance to help out.

One fun thing about the event was the door prizes.

Before the event even began, I went to all of these locations plus some and collected the prizes. My task was to let the places know about the event and explain the cause. Best Buy was one of the places that helped set up the event, and they gave a donation along with a home theater system for a door prize.

Each person who gave a donation to United Way received half of a ticket stub. The other half was randomly drawn from a bowl after every performance.

It felt good letting businesses know about the cause and allowing people to receive prizes for making donations to United Way.

After collecting the door prizes, I made my way to Mathis Auditorium. There, we started preparing for the show. Shannon had a list of things that needed to be done.

Shannon made a sample disk of the four bands that would be playing at the showcase. She planned on giving the first people through the doors a gift bag and a CD.

Shannon’s sister, Nichele, and I had to put a face sticker on each of the CDs, and then we had to put them all in pocket sleeves. We gathered together a big pile of CDs, and then filled the gift bags with hats, t-shirts, and pins.

After filling the bags, we began to fold the brochures for the night. Each brochure gave a special thanks to the community and everyone who helped set up the event. They also included the times of the performances.

There were four bands that played at the event. They dedicated their day to also helping set up the event, as well as sound checking, and making sure that they put

on a spectacular performance.

Wilson Empire Heath Deloach Band Soular Seven Blackeyed Katy

Nichele and I were also in charge of collecting the donations at the door. The event was also a “Thank You” party for all of the people who had made donations in 2005. All of the guests’ names who had donated were put on a list, and we had to make sure that they did not make another donation and that they received a name tag.

It felt good taking the donations and seeing all of the people who wanted to contribute to the cause. It was a fun event, and as hard as it was to sit and watch the people coming in instead of the bands, it was all worth it.

When the end of the show came around, all of the bands decided to put on a special performance, together. They all got on stage and performed a song by U2 called Pride (In the Name of Love). It was an excellent ending to a perfect day.

• I think in all, the campaign raised a little over $500. It was not as much as Shannon had hoped for, but she has already began planning for another showcase next year.

• The event made me realize that community service is not all hard work and that it is an excellent way to have fun while raising money for a good cause.

• Even though it was a long day, I will definitely be there to help out next year and as many other events that I can.

•I highly recommend that every does something for the community at least once. It is a great feeling knowing that you have helped others or touched them in some way. There is always some way of helping others.