Hanceville High School Band Director Steven Porter (seated) and the Dog Pound Players / W.C. Mann
HANCEVILLE – Recent events in this part of the country have heavily taxed the resources of relief agencies across the board, and many people and groups have stepped up to respond: some by taking on the task of response themselves, and others by offering extra support to front-line relief organizations.
On Sunday afternoon, Hanceville First United Methodist Church held a dinner and concert to raise funds for the North Alabama Disaster Relief Warehouse (NADRW), a facility and service of the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR).
Church Music Director and Hanceville High School Band Director Steven Porter, who planned the event, spoke to The Tribune about what he hoped to accomplish.
“It’s something that I can give. I don’t have much to give. What I can give is music, and I can do concerts,” said Porter, “and I can bring people together with good food, good music and good fellowship. I thought, ‘We need to do this.’
“I just found out about the NADRW in Decatur a couple of weeks ago, and I said I can do something for them, because they do something domestic and worldwide, for man-made and natural disasters, and they distribute care packages, and relief and supplies all across the world.”
Performers at the benefit concert included:
- Porter himself, performing original contemporary Christian music
- New Horizon, a Southern Gospel quartet
- Dog Pound Players – a jazz band made up of current and former Hanceville High School Band members under the direction of Porter
UMCOR is a Methodist nonprofit dedicated to relieving human suffering in numerous forms. It offers various services including disaster relief, health, sustainable agriculture, food security and relief supplies.
Event kitchen coordinator Sandy Waters reported that donations totaled more than $1,300.
For more information about UMCOR, visit www.umcor.org. For more information about the work of Hanceville First United Methodist Church, visit http://hancevillefumc.org.
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