On Wednesday, December 7th, Beyond Housing hosted hundreds of guests at their annual benefit concert featuring America’s Got Talent and Emmy Award-winning artist Damien Escobar, along with St. Louisan Brian Owens. Both played to a crowd of over 700 guests while raising money for thousands of residents living in the Normandy school district.
Before the concert, guests were invited to attend a VIP cocktail reception where they were encouraged to participate in a “Fund the Need” auction. Funds were raised for a variety of programs ranging from winter coats, hat+gloves for Normandy students to providing quality after school programs. This entertaining evening raised more than $75,000 dollars.
As an added bonus, artist Brian Owens and Sterling Bank sponsored the attendance for students and their families from the Normandy 7th and 8th Grade Center. Students school-wide were encouraged to “Stop, Drop, and Write” about a “Leading Lady” in their lives. More than 200 students submitted essays about their moms, grannies and other leading ladies that have played a significant role in their lives. 30 students were selected from the submissions to attend the event with the leading lady featured in their essay. Prior to the concert, students were invited to read their essays to a room full of adoring parents, grannies, and community volunteers.
Chris Krehmeyer, President and CEO of Beyond Housing, was thrilled with this year’s event as well as the number of residents from the community who were able to attend. “The Home for the Holidays benefit concert was a huge success for a number of reasons,” said Krehmeyer. “We were able to tell our story to a sold-out crowd, share the work that we are able to do, its importance, and why. We were also able to have the community participate thanks to our sponsors, donors, family, and friends. Without them, our work would not be possible.”
Our sponsors included E.M. Harris Construction Company, Edward Jones, Midwest BankCentre, and Northern Trust.
