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September 11, 2001, The Twin Towers were attacked. Thousands of people are killed, hundreds and hundreds more are injured. Tens of thousands of families destroyed—and all of this done right here, in New York City, USA.
All of us were devastated by what happened. Some people were able to help, the Fire Department, Police Department, EMT'S, Doctors, Steel Workers, Electricians, Construction workers. People from all walks of life came out to support these families, and "thank God they did." But I did nothing. Sure I made donations, but that was not enough for me. I needed to do something else, something more. The answer was right in front of my face and I didn't recognize it!!!
One day, I received a phone call from Chris Mahoney of the "Traditions," and he said, "We haven't heard from you, aren't you going to do a fundraiser like you did for the people in Oklahoma City after the bombing?" There it was, right in front of my face all along. How stupid was I? Well, from that point on, I just steamrolled forward, and created "Oldies for America".
There were "other" fundraising shows going on that made claims, "we will donate 10% of our profits to..." To who?? and who is determining those profits? To this day I have not heard who has received these supposed donation, or they said "we will donate a portion of the proceeds raised and donate them to...." again to whom were these monies donated to and how much? Did they use this tragedy to sell tickets?!! I sure hope not.
Our show took place on October 28, 2001 and was held at Sachem High School North, Lake Ronkonkoma, NY. There was no charge for the school and all the facilities. There were 13 groups in that show, and they gave of themselves for free—no charge, all the food, drinks. Printing, tee shirts, sound, lighting, tickets, etc., etc., etc. ALL DONATED FOR FREE! This enabled Friend Entertainment to raise, in less than one month, a total of over $28,000.00 and all of it—every dollar, every cent, was donated to the Newsday Victims Relief Fund sponsored by Newsday of Long Island.
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