Yellowknifers will perform a vehicle-related tribute concert in April to continue raising money for the city’s street outreach program.
Operated by the Yellowknife Women’s Society, the initiative involves a van that can be dispatched to help vulnerable people who are in difficulty on the city’s streets and get them somewhere safe.
However, the society’s two vans have been plagued by problems. A fundraiser begun last month has so far raised around $12,000 to fund a new vehicle.
Supporters of the program are now planning a concert to push fundraising efforts closer to their $20,000 goal.
Hitchin’ A Ride, which will take place at the Top Knight bar on April 5 and 6, is seeking performers to play anything with “a tenuous connection to vehicles or driving.”
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Examples given by organizers include:
- Boulevard of Broken Dreams
- Get Out of My Dreams (and Into My Car)
- Truckin’
- Nir-VAN-a
The organizers already have form in the field of fundraising tribute concerts: they put on a well-received Beatles tribute concert in 2018 to help the family of a seriously ill young NWT resident.
In a Facebook post, Mindy Frost-Greene – who has helped to lead fundraising efforts for street outreach – wrote: “Funds from the concert will be raised with the goal to both pay the local musicians who participate and make a good donation to a great cause.
“Even though we haven’t yet (and may not) reach that goal of $20,000, the amount we have achieved is still a big accomplishment and help to the Street Outreach. So no matter what: to everyone who has donated, shared the links and posts, posted posters, or even just made sure to tell people by word-of mouth, an enormous thank you for being the awesome community you are!
