Reporting by Champ Howard, Special to the St. Cloud Times
Place of Hope will be holding its first Be the Hope Music Festival fundraiser on July 11 at Iron Street Distillery, with a goal of raising $50,000.
Including headliners Charlie Roth and Paul “Stretch” Diethelm, the festival will feature over 20 artists performing across three stages from 2 to 9 p.m. Members of the community are also invited to join and perform at the open mic, according to the organization’s press release.
Iron Street Distillery will feature a limited menu of food and drinks alongside food trucks scattered across the event, according to owner Julie Johnson. The event will also feature a kid-friendly area with a bounce house and face painting.
“You come in and enjoy the music, buy some food at the food trucks, use the QR code and donate to Place of Hope…” Johnson said. “All the money goes to Place of Hope. We are just trying to help them get some additional funds to keep doing the good work they are doing.”
Place of Hope was opened by Pastor Carol Jean Smith and her husband Pastor Geary Smith in 1997. The couple’s main reason for fundraising is improving housing and upgrading the facilities to hold more people at Compassionate Hope Family Center located at 121 Park Ave. S., St. Cloud.
Currently, Compassionate Hope Family Center can only house single women on one of its floors. Smith is hopeful that the fundraiser will allow it to get the funds needed to finish renovations and allow families to have housing by the end of August.
“We are trying to get the kids in a place before school starts,” Smith said.
Smith estimated it will take roughly $200,000 to completely finish the renovations.
How Be the Hope Music Festival was born
The idea for a fundraiser came about after Roth drove a woman back to St. Cloud after playing a wedding in the Brainerd Lakes Area. After hearing about Smith and Place of Hope, Roth realized a fundraiser was well deserved, calling Smith his “very own Mother Teresa.”
Roth talked to Smith, and the idea for the fundraiser was started. Roth had played at the Iron Street Distillery in the past, so he also talked to Johnson about the idea.
Before Johnson was involved, Smith and Roth planned on just playing at a park. After Johnson met Smith and heard about the fundraiser from her, Johnson offered to host the event.
After getting confirmation on the date and location, Roth started reaching out to some musicians from the area. Many of those who offered to perform also offered to help set up the equipment for the stage and event.
“It makes you proud to be a part of a community of musicians that really support each other, and this is for a really good cause,” Roth said.
Some members of the community have already begun putting down large donations. Place of Hope churchgoer Mary Legatt-Ufford reached out to a few friends who she knew could donate, and called it the “$1,000 Challenge” to get a few bigger donations of $1,000.
As of July 2, she has raised $4,000. Alongside the $1,000 Challenge, Place of Hope has a $50,000 match if they reach their goal.
If successful, Place of Hope and Roth both hope to make the fundraiser an annual event.
This article originally appeared on St. Cloud Times.
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