Concert ups donations, awareness for shelter

Nicole Beckford never thought she’d be homeless, but after a fire destroyed her home in Lansing, she found herself at Haven House, 121 Whitehills Drive, a temporary shelter for homeless families.

“It’s been good,” Beckford said. “We lost everything in our house fire, so it’s been a great help for our family.”

Beckford attended Bach and The Beatles, a concert benefiting the Haven House, on Saturday night at Martin Luther Chapel, 444 Abbot Road. The concert aimed to raise money and awareness for the organization.

“It was great that there’s actually people that are out there to help us,” Beckford said.

The concert was organized by Matthew Olson, an MSU music conducting graduate student. The concert featured performances by 25 MSU College of Music students, as well appearances by lyric baritone Eric Neuviller, vocalist Sonja Tengblad and collaborative piano graduate student Justine Karmel Sasamfar, all former students at Saint Olaf College in Minnesota, where Olson previously studied. Olson first learned about Haven House while volunteering on Martin Luther King Jr. Day as part of a initiative put in place by President Barack Obama.

“I saw there was something special going on there,” Olson said.

Olson said the goal of the concert not only was to raise awareness and funds for Haven House, but also to promote community service in general.

“We’re hoping to gain volunteers and raise awareness for the new Web site, www.serve.gov, which is helping organize different community service projects by zip code and by town and city,” Olson said.

Matthew Hunter, a music education senior and countertenor, participated in the concert and was impressed with the support the community showed.

“We have a great crowd; it’s more than we expected,” Hunter said. “We’re so honored to have all these people come out and support the Haven House.”

Angela Mayeaux, executive director of Haven House, said the benefit was a “freewill offering” simply asking attendees to make donations to her organization.

Mayeaux said Haven House has fewer restrictions on who it will admit in comparison to other shelters because they try to keep families together.

“We’re able to take any kind family composition in,” Mayeaux said.

Olson said when it comes to raising awareness about a cause, music is a useful tool.

“I find the arts to be an ideal vehicle for reminding communities of the challenges … in their own neighborhoods,” he said.