The tornado relief concert Saturday night at the Alhambra Theatre — featuring The Fabulous Equinox orchestra from Savannah, Georgia, and Hopkinsville musician Kenneth Bates — raised $10,000, organizers said.
As the concert wrapped up, Pennyroyal Arts Council Executive Director Margaret Prim presented a ceremonial check for $10,000, which is to be divided between the Christian County Chamber of Commerce-led Gift Cards for Compassion and the Tornado Relief Fund organized by the Kentucky Chamber Foundation and Kentucky Sports Radio.
Taylor W. Hayes, president of the local chamber, told Hoptown Chronicle that the Gift Cards for Compassion effort had raised approximately $24,000 (including a $18,500 donation from the Screaming Eagle Foundation) prior to the concert. A $5,000 contribution from the concert pushes Gift Cards for Compassion to nearly $30,000. The campaign provides gift cards to people affected by tornadoes that struck several Western Kentucky communities.
Fabulous Equinox band leader Jeremy Davis and lead vocalist Clay Johnson had contacted the local arts council immediately after the Dec. 10-11 tornadoes and said they wanted to do something to help. Prim said the arts council quickly organized the concert and secured support from several arts council benefactors. They pledged that all of the proceeds from the concert would go to efforts to help tornado victims.
The orchestra and Bates played mainly gospel songs. The audience included people in the downtown theater and others around the country who bought livestream tickets.
Before heading back to Georgia, the orchestra planned to provide music for three services at Hopkinsville’s Edgewood Baptist Church on Sunday.
(This story was updated to correct a mistake about how the concert proceeds will be dispersed.)
Jennifer P. Brown is co-founder, publisher and editor of Hoptown Chronicle. You can reach her at editor@hoptownchronicle.org. Brown was a reporter and editor at the Kentucky New Era, where she worked for 30 years. She is a co-chair of the national advisory board to the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues, governing board past president for the Kentucky Historical Society, and co-founder of the Kentucky Open Government Coalition. She serves on the Hopkinsville History Foundation's board.
