Acclaimed Irish tenor Ronan Tynan will bring his unique voice and world class musical talent to the State Theatre on Nov. 8, in a concert benefitting the Bob Perks Cancer Assistance Fund and the non-profit theatre.
Sponsored by Automated Records Centre of Bellefonte, the idea for the concert came to Michael Sullivan, the president of the records storage and management services company, after his mother passed away from cancer two years ago.
Though his parents were able to take care of the financial burden that comes with a cancer diagnosis, Sullivan said his family saw many people undergoing the same treatment as his mother who didn’t have the same sort of means.
After hearing of the Bob Perks Fund and all that it does for those in need, Sullivan thought using his Irish heritage to help the fund would be the best way to honor his mother’s memory.
“I was the driving force to bring Ronan Tynan to State College for the fundraiser,” he said.
Sullivan was also instrumental in choosing the State Theatre as the location for the fundraiser.
According to Sullivan, the small and special theatre can seat up to 571 people and is the only non-university venue that can hold that many patrons. This, combined with the non-profit theatre’s goal to aid other local nonprofits made it the best location for the concert.
All proceeds from the concert will be split between the Bob Perks Fund and the State Theatre.
“As much as we need to help cancer patients, we need this venue in town as well to help continue to support a lot of the other non-profits in town,” Sullivan said.
Bob Perks Fund executive director Norma Keller said sharing this benefit with the theatre is a true honor for the cancer fund organization.
“It will be a wonderful community event,” she said.
Keller said joining with the theatre to hold this concert will also help to broaden fundraising opportunities for the Bob Perks Fund, as the audience will greatly differ from that of the Bob Perks Fund Tailgate Party.
“We try to hold a number of events through the year to raise funds for families with a cancer diagnosis who are struggling to make day-to-day expenses,” she said. “For us, the more broad-based the fundraising event, the more likely we are to raise awareness about the Bob Perks Fund and the more likely we are to tap into donors who have a broad interest.”
Sullivan agreed, saying it is important for nonprofits to offer variety in their events as a way to reach a broad audience.
“It’s critical that the community at large understands some of the resources that are available to them out there,” he said. “It’s a great evening. It’s eye-opening. You will become a little bit more aware of what the community is doing at large.”
According to Keller, attracting different audiences and increasing awareness of the fund will provide the Bob Perks Fund with more opportunities to help cancer patients in Centre, Blair, Huntingdon and Clearfield counties.
“We’re increasing awareness about the availability of the Bob Perks Fund. We’re impacting on different groups because of the nature of the event,” she said.
Though Sullivan and Keller both hope the community comes out and recognizes that Tynan is a world-class entertainer, the two hope those in attendance really recognize they are supporting the community at large. Keller believes the events will increase the Bob Perks Fund’s revenue by more than $6,000, allowing the organization to continue serving families throughout the remainder of the year and into next year.
“Having an event like this, being a part of helping to foster new events to help the Bob Perks Fund has a dramatic impact on helping local families,” Keller said. “All of this is increasing our resources to help the families that we are serving.”
Click HERE to order tickets to the Ronan Tynan concert.
For more information about the Bob Perks Fund, or to make a donation, click HERE.
IF YOU GO:
WHO: Fans of classical Irish music or classical music
WHAT: Ronan Tynan, a benefit concert
WHERE: The State Theatre
WHEN: Nov. 8, 8 p.m.
WHY: those wishing to support the Bob Perks Fund and The State Theatre
COST: $35*for students and $45 for adults (plus a $3 ticketing fee per ticket)
*only 50 student tickets are available at the reduced student price.
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