Voices of Hope Full Story

Voices of Hope lasted the entire day, with performances each period and continuing after school until midnight. Second hour began with a choir on tour that made Voices of Hope one if its stop – they both sang and made financial contributions to the Angel Foundation. The Girls Treble Choir from Falcon Middle School, a group that also gave money to the Foundation, performed second. An Eastview Spanish class performed third and a Japanese class fourth, both in their respective languages. Fifth was the Men’s Chorale. The sixth and last group to perform was the Eastview Women’s Chorale, the group that organized Voices of Hope.

Later in the day the main highlights consisted of performances by the Minnesota Choir, the rock band Ferris (which is made up of Eastview students and alumni), and Select Three, a local boy-band.

Cancer is a major public health problem in many parts of the world, and one-fourth of all United States deaths can be attributed to it. Over a third of cancer deaths worldwide are due to tobacco smoking, alcohol use, not enough fruits and vegetables, obesity, and the human papilloma virus.

Voices of Hope raised money for the Angel Foundation, a Minnesota charity founded in 2001. The Angel Foundation fulfills unmet non-medical needs by providing education and support for them through its Facing Cancer Together (FaCT) program.

FaCT holds education seminars, family activities, and other programs. The Foundation also provides direct financial assistance with rent, mortgage, groceries and gas, phone and utility bill payments. This means that cancer patients won’t have to decide between purchasing their medication, or food and shelter for their families. Furthermore, the Foundation focuses on non-medical needs because there are already many organizations raising money for cancer research.

Indeed, Eastview senior and singer Kelsey Reger reports that her choir director Judy Sagen decided to work in conjunction with the Angel Foundation for this very reason. She further reports that the Voices of Hope event originated with a few fellow singers that wanted to make a difference because their own families had been affected by cancer.

Reger was inspired to participate in the event because “it’s a simple way to contribute the small amount of money I have to a good cause”. It was different than other Eastview fundraiser was different than other fundraisers Eastview has conducted because it “allowed an opportunity to use our own talents to create change, and a lot of people are affected by cancer”.
Voices of Hope set a goal of raising $25,000 through performance fees, participant sponsors, corporate sponsorship, audience ticket sales, a choir clinic for elementary school students, and merchandise/food sales. It has raised $15,000 already.

The Angel Foundation is always in need of funds. The Foundation accepts whatever contributions you can make, and to contribute simply go here: http://www.mnangel.org/donate/donate-to-angel-foundation