By Karen Benjamin & Mischa Daniel
On 27 June, Croydon SDA Church held its very first on-line fundraising concert, themed Songs of Hope, to raise money for two very worthy causes – our own Selhurst Community Kitchen and Foodbank and the local hospital, Croydon Health Services NHS Trust. Hosted by Johnny Saul, we were treated to a diverse range of outstanding performances from singers and instrumentalists from Croydon SDA Church and other churches.
Our performers included the internationally acclaimed Ken Burton, Paul Lee, and cellist Dianna Elisa Roldan all the way from Mexico. Other notable performances included young instrumentalists, Kieron Daniel and Donovan Gervais, and soloist Georgina Benjamin. We also enjoyed heart-warming duets from several Croydon SDA Church families: father and daughter – David and Danielle Billet; mother and daughter – Annette and Keisha Smith; and sisters – Karina and Jasmin Saul. Not to be left out, we also had some delightful performances from Croydon’s children, Annaliese Smith, and brothers – Joshua and Caleb Choyen. For Joshua and Caleb, this was a heartfelt moment as they had recently lost their father, but decided to still go ahead with their performance, dedicating the song to their dad.
Throughout the concert, every rendition reminded us that Jesus is our only hope for these trying times, and we need to keep holding on and looking forward to His soon return. We were also reminded that even where we have lost loved ones, we have hope and assurance that one day, if faithful, we will see our loved ones again.
Over 1,000 people tuned in live to the concert, and just over £4,000 was raised in total! To God be the glory! The funds will be used to provide food and other supplies to our Selhurst Community Kitchen and Food Bank, which is now helping to feed well over 100 people every Tuesday evening. When presented with a cheque for £2,000, Donnette Brown (Community Services leader) said,
“We’ve increased the number of people we’re serving hot meals to, including the number of food parcels delivered, so we are very thankful that you put this concert together. This donation can help us to meet the needs of the community.”
Donnette Brown (Community Services Leader)
Foodbank Team receive a cheque from Pastor Alex Mareniuc and Doriel Benjamin (Music Committee leader)
A donation of £2,000 was also made to our local hospital, Croydon Health Services NHS Trust. Chief Executive, Matthew Kershaw said,
“It’s fantastic that the churches have come and supported us in this way. We’ve obviously been working very hard to support the local people through the Coronavirus pandemic and the population has been fantastic in supporting us and looking after the staff so that our staff can look after the patients. Thank you so much for the donation. We will put it towards some funds to provide some care and support to some of our staff through some improved staff facilities. We’ll be doing that over the next few days.”
Croydon NHS Chief Executive, Matthew Kershaw
Pastor Royston Smith asked the hospital’s chaplain, Reverend Andy if there was any practical help that the church can provide. Reverend Andy explained that,
“We are always looking for volunteers and will be doing a new volunteers programme for people to come and train to be chaplains in the hospital and those details will go out shortly. If there are people that have got time and could come and volunteer to be one of the chaplains, that will be fantastic. Thank you for your donation and for working with us in these tragic circumstances and for all the work that you do with your congregation. God bless you.”
Croydon NHS Chaplain, Reverend Andy
Croydon NHS Chief Executive, Matthew Kershaw and Reverend Andy receive a cheque from Pastor Royston Smith, Pastor Alex Mareniuc, and Doriel Benjamin (Music Committee leader)
If you missed the concert, you can still watch it on our YouTube channel, and you will also be able to see some inspiring footage of all the work that goes into running our Foodbank and local NHS hospital. Your continued support is appreciated. Going forward, if you would like to make a donation to our Foodbank, check out our donation page.
