On Saturday evening, January 18th, the A Cappella Jam for Hope was held at RJ Reynolds Auditorium in Winston-Salem. This is the 14th-annual presentation of the musical fundraiser, founded by Terry Hicks, which the students at RJ Reynolds High School hold for a charitable cause. This year the students chose Kaleideum to be the recipient of the funds from the event, which raised more than $7,000 for the museum.
A Cappella Jam for Hope is an “exhibition style” a cappella festival, where various groups come together and perform in order to raise money for a local non-profit,” says Josh Settlemyre, the chorus teacher at Reynolds High School. “This year’s event was made even more exciting because Matt Sallee from Pentatonix was the emcee.”
The RJ Reynolds High School a cappella groups Trebellious, Syncopate, X, and the Acafellas performed along with a cappella groups from colleges across the state, including:
- The Clef Hangers (UNC-Chapel Hill)
- Treble Attraction (Appalachian State University)
- Standing Ovation (Pfeiffer University)
- High Seas (UNC Wilmington)
- Davidson Delilahs (Davidson College)
- Drastic Measures (East Carolina University)
- Offbeats (High Point University)
- Win-pipes (Wingate University)
The money raised from the A Cappella Jam for Hope will be used to help provide outreach memberships, as well as free and discounted Kaleideum field trip programs for Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools.
“We are very grateful for the support of these local high schoolers,” says Elizabeth Dampier, Kaleideum Executive Director. “Many of them grew up discovering our exhibits and programs with their families and participating in school field trips that came to the children’s museum and the science center. It is very meaningful to see them give back to something that was important to them when they were young.”
