Songs4Sight 2022 Draws the Largest Fundraising Total in Event History
Sights for Hope’s Songs4Sight 2022 concert produced the largest fundraising total in the event’s history and doubled the prior year’s result, according to organizational data.
Presented by Sights for Hope Diamond Community Partner Provident Bank, Tuesday’s concert was the second Songs4Sight produced with ArtsQuest. Songs4Sight 2022 was held outside SteelStacks in Bethlehem, PA, and featured a presentation of The BRUCE Show – the high-energy Springsteen tribute performed by The Mighty SPECTRUM Band. The show featured several of Bruce Springsteen’s most acclaimed and popular songs – including Born to Run, Dancing in the Dark, Badlands, and Thunder Road.
Funds raised included all ticket sales revenue, concert-specific sponsorships, merchandise sales, and a special appeal that included a highest single gift match by the Sights for Hope Board of Directors and was led by board member Paul Miller. Miller, who identifies as “completely blind,” holds a fifth-degree black belt in karate and is the President and CEO of Active Learning Centers and Lehigh Valley Martial Arts.
Additional support for Songs4Sight 2022 was provided by Inova Technologies, Lehigh Valley Martial Arts, and Active Learning Centers.
Sights for Hope created the Songs4Sight concert because music is an experience that people can enjoy equally regardless of their eyesight. All Songs4Sight proceeds benefit Sights for Hope. After Songs4Sight premiered in 2019, the event was cancelled in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Songs4Sight 2021 featured a tribute to The Beatles by the band Strawberry Fields.
Sights for Hope blends a service tradition inspired by Helen Keller nearly a century ago with contemporary practices to remove the barriers to independence and success caused by visual impairments. Sights for Hope transforms the lives of people with visual impairments in Pennsylvania’s Lehigh Valley and Monroe County through life skills education, specialized technologies, individualized support services, free vision screenings for children, and community education programs. Sights for Hope services impact more than 10,000 people in a typical year and are provided at little or no cost. Approximately 85% of Sights for Hope clients with visual impairments are from low-income households. Sights for Hope is an independent member of the Pennsylvania Association for the Blind (PAB) and is affiliated with the VisionServe Alliance, a network of North American agencies that serve people with visual impairments.
Top Image: The performance of The BRUCE Show during Songs4Sight 2022