I currently plan, coordinate, and run a local benefit concert consisting anywhere from 5 to 10 bands with the help of those bands as well as friends. This is my third consecutive year planning this show.
The first two years the project was called "The Bands for St. Jo's Benefit Concert" because the proceeds were donated to the Saint Joseph Orphanage. Currently I refer to it as "The Event that Has No Name," because I changed the beneficiary to The Michael W. Bany Memorial Fund and have yet to come up with a catchy title.
The Michael W. Bany Memorial Fund is a scholarship for high school students whom have stellar academic abilities and whom also show financial need. I changed to this beneficiary for two reasons: education is my passion and music is the passion of the bands that come from all four corners of the state to play the show at no cost, and the ultimate aim of the benefit concert is to start our own scholarship fund. The scholarship beautifully combines both passions and gives us some experience working with a scholarship fund before branching out and starting our own.
The benefit has grown substantially over the last three years; the first year saw only about 15 heads, last year saw around 200 heads, and this year we expect to see at least 400 heads come in and out of the concert throughout the evening.
Our ultimate goal is to make the benefit concert an all day event instead of an evening show, possibly occurring 4 times a year in different locations so that we can raise enough money to start our own music scholarship. Instead of limiting the scholarship to the Cincinnati, OH area, we would like to make it a national scholarship.
