Linda Mustard once volunteered on Saturday mornings at Love Chapel Ministries food pantry, helping shoppers get their groceries.
On July 27, she’ll be helping clients get their groceries in another way. She’ll be among a variety of performers singing or playing at a second annual free, donation-oriented concert fundraiser for the local outreach.
“Singing For Their Supper” is scheduled to unfold at 7 p.m. July 27 at First United Methodist Church, 618 Eighth St. in downtown Columbus. Last year’s gathering attracted about 300 people and raised nearly $4,000 for the pantry, according to organizers.
Mustard and her guitarist/vocalist husband, Dan Mustard, will perform the Anne Murray classic pop tune, “You Needed Me.”
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“I just really love that song,” she said.
And she loves the idea of finding other ways to help the nonprofit county agency, supported by the Ecumenical Assembly of Bartholomew County Churches, which helps feed more than 1,000 households monthly.
“It’s fun to be able to give back again,” Linda Mustard said, also recalling days when she volunteered with the Columbus North High School Life Skills class to help Love Chapel move its pantry to a new structure a few years ago.
Local singer Kevin Butler, also First United Methodist’s director of music, is organizing this year’s event with Bloomington resident John Simpson, former organist at Sandy Hook Church in Columbus. Simpson hatched the idea of the fundraiser and worked with Butler to put everything together last year. What unfolded included everything from Disney tunes to George Gershwin standards.
“We were pleasantly surprised by the turnout, and also by people’s generosity,” Butler said, adding that he hopes the proceeds offer “a little shot in the arm” for the ministry. “And we’re doing our best once again this year to keep it fun.”
For some, one way of doing that is keeping things all in the family. Toward that end, popular local vocalist Jenny Heichelbech will sing with her sons Sam and Eli backing her instrumentally.
“We had a great sense of camaraderie last year,” Butler said. “The atmosphere almost was like that of a concert in the park.”
He mentioned that, afterward, a number of people asked if organizers would consider presenting the event again. Butler himself plans to sing the Broadway tune “What Do I Need With Love” from “Thoroughly Modern Millie.” Butler often heard and loved the tune over the years while judging show choirs.
Butler, normally behind the scenes at area performances, laughingly acknowledged the fundraiser “gives me a chance to dust the rust off the ol’ pipes and see if I can still do it.”
Longtime local barbershop singer and Lasting Impressions community theater performer Ed Browne plans to sing the Matt Monro tune “When I Fall in Love,” accompanied by Columbus pianist Ed Bruenjes.
“It’s a beautiful love song,” Browne said. “And I happen to know it (through barbershop).”
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What: "Singing For Their Supper" fundraiser concert for Love Chapel Ministries food pantry. Performers include Jenny Heichelbech with her two sons, Sam and Eli; Ed Browne; Camilla Gehring; Cindy McMillin; Doug and Dianne Sprunger; Dan and Linda Mustard; Allison Kunkler; Tayler Seymour and Kevin Butler.
When: 7 p.m. July 27
Where: First United Methodist Church, 618 Eighth St. in downtown Columbus.
Admission: Free, but donations will be accepted for the cause.
Information: 812-372-2851.
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