Singing for a Cure

This morning my quartet, Lustre, set up a donations table outside the local grocery store and sang for customers.  It was a glorious morning - the weather was beautiful, with clear blue skies, light breeze and temps in the low 70's.

Are You Having Any Fun?

The quartet sang songs for folks passing into and out of the grocery store.  We did not ask any one for any donations, we let our signs and our singing speak for themselves.  We had mini cupcakes and rice krispy treats to give away as thank you tokens, and we also had pink satin ribbons for anyone who wanted one.  I had printed out some information sheets on breast cancer which were available at the Susan G. Komen website, and also printed out some "In Honor of..." and "In Memory of..." cards for people to fill out as they made donations.  A dozen balloons, a painted sign, and we were good to go!

Kate and Lori C enjoying the morning

We sang for just a little over an hour before taking a quick lunch break.  Soon after that, one of our members had to leave, so we sang as a trio for a short while, and then it was just two of us for another hour.

Singing to bring in the donations

I was really amazed at the generosity of the people who made donations.  Some people gave a dollar or two, some gave a five, and four kind people donated $20 bills.  One woman wrote a check for $50!  She said that she had not yet really started her annual charitable donations effort, and so she'd get started with the Susan G. Koman fundraising effort.   We were more than happy to accept!

All told, we raised $263 for breast cancer research.

I think most of the money (with the notable exception of the $50 check) was donated while the quartet was singing.  It was fun to sing for people, watch them smile, and then watch them put cash into the box.  Some folks donated right away, some waited until they'd finished their grocery shopping.  Some of the store employees came out to see and hear us after they'd been told we were singing out front.  Everyone seemed to be appreciative.

And we were very appreciative of everyone's generosity.  We spent a few hours doing something fun, and earned $263 for research.  Not a bad deal!

Thanks everyone!