Voices of Hope

Last Friday, Apple Valley’s Eastview High School hosted an all day sing-a-thon called "Voices of Hope" in its performing arts center. It started at 8am and had non-stop singing until midnight. The goal was to raise $25,000 toward the Angel Foundation, an organization helping families battling cancer. This event had many musical styles and performances. Each performer donated 10 dollars each to sing.
What was unique about this event was that it was all created and organized by Eastview's very own Women's Chorale. One of the students in the choir's mother is struggling with pancreatic cancer, so the choir wanted to use the power of singing to make a difference. “All of us have been touched by cancer one way or another, so the girls thought it was important to their gift of singing toward something that really affects all of us”, said Eastview's Choir director Judy Sagen, who was a big organizer of the event. "When words fail, music speaks", was a phrase she felt really connected to the event and cause.
Many widely known groups and Eastview alumni came back and performed. Brooke Killgariff, Eastview alum and this year’s “Miss Twin Cities” emceed throughout the day and performed a few songs. The professional boy-band, Select Three, appeared, and all of the Eastview choirs performed and had many of its students involved in solos and duets. Even the faculty got involved. There were appearances by teachers, secretaries, foreign language classes, and even the Eastview cooks. Finally, the up and coming band Ferris, Apple Valley’s hometown band, closed the show in front of lots of cheering fans. With so many people performing in the event, it ran even later than midnight. The last group ended at around 12:30am.
“I liked being involved with Voices of Hope because it was a fun way to help out not just our Eastview community, but families fighting cancer everywhere”, said choir senior Jessica Zelenak. “On top of our schoolwork and lives outside of school, we worked really hard on this event. Some of us who are in Chamber Singers came to school at 5:30 a.m. that Friday when we appeared on the 6 o’clock WCCO morning news show. It was really early but it was so worth it in the end.” With that kind of drive and passion toward the event, it was sure to have been a big success; and it was. Since donations and money are still coming in, the total amount raised has not yet been calculated. This goal however, is hoping to be achieved by a combination of performance fees, participant/corporate sponsorship, audience ticket sales, a choir clinic for elementary school students, and food sales. The students also made buttons, T-shirts, and other merchandise to go toward the goal. Either way- if the goal of 25,000 dollars was reached or not, it is no doubt that this life-changing experience really made a difference for families who are struggling with cancer in their lives and is sure to become an annual tradition at Eastview.