On Saturday, Oct. 18, the Elizabethtown College choirs held their Homecoming concert in Leffler Chapel and Performance Center. This year, the choirs tried to raise funds for people affected by Ebola, a virus that has spread in West Africa.
Dr. Matthew Fritz, director of choral activities, announced that donations could be made in the lobby and would be sent to help victims of Ebola. “In the countries that are affected by [Ebola], a little bit of money goes a long way,” Fritz said to the audience.
The Concert Choir is scheduled to tour South Africa in 2015. Though South Africa is a developed nation and has sufficient medical care for its citizens, the Choir chose to tour there due to the spreading of Ebola within other parts of the continent.
Instead of using the concert as a fundraiser for that trip’s expenses, the choir will donate the funds to “Doctors Without Borders.” Doctors Without Borders is an organization that provides medical care to people who have been affected by disasters, including natural disasters and the current Ebola crisis in West Africa.
Doctors Without Borders also has a program called “Field Partners,” which connects individuals and other organizations that want to physically, as well as financially, assist the cause.
The choirs hope to raise $2,000 for Doctors Without Borders by the end of 2014. Doctors Without Borders is “one of the most highly-regarded (and equipped) non-profits addressing the epidemic,” Fritz wrote in an email.
Even students not in any of the choirs at Etown are encouraged to look at their own actions and keep in mind Etown’s motto “Educate for Service” in light of the philanthropic effort. Cases of Ebola have been discovered and are increasing in the U.S.
The fundraising is “just a way that we here in the United States can help our brothers and sisters across the sea,” Fritz said. Though Ebola is not the only focus that Doctors Without Borders has, it is the primary epidemic and topic for discussion at the moment.
Overall, there are two missions the choirs are aiming toward. First is raising funds for Doctors Without Borders to help people affected by Ebola. Second is to educate themselves, specifically the Concert Choir through touring with their music, about how other countries and continents are struggling with similar medical problems but without sufficient medical equipment.
Since it was Homecoming weekend, there were many alumni and community members attending the concert as well as current students. Because of the eventful weekend, the audience turnout at Leffler Chapel and Performance Center was larger than previous concerts, allowing for greater access to potential donators and supporters.
As well as the choirs performing, the jazz band played to increase the hype and interest for the concert. The funds raised from the concert will immediately be sent to Doctors Without Borders, which serves over 70 countries including, but not limited to, countries in South America, Africa, Asia and Europe.
The Etown choirs have made many efforts to create publicity for their event. Along with the actual event, they partnered with the prestigious Doctors Without Borders foundation and have posted to the Elizabethtown College Choirs’ Facebook page, though the official Elizabethtown College Facebook page has not posted the donation link.
All in all, Fritz and the choirs have taken on something that few other groups at Etown have tried — touring in another country and raising funds for a current and pressing epidemic. Donations can be made though the link on the Choirs’ Facebook page or by going to Doctors Without Borders foundation website and searching “Elizabethtown College Music Department.”
