New donors sought for free children’s concert

FAIRFIELD - The annual Children's Holiday Benefit Concert in Fairfield is in its 25th year in 2020.

The concert raises money for various charities assisting children both locally and around the world. The concert normally occurs over two days at Café Paradiso in Fairfield, but that won't be possible this year due to the pandemic. Instead, residents can hear the area's top musicians perform online at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 12, via Zoom Webinar.

Attendance is free. Those who wish to watch the concert should email childrensholidaybenefit@gmail.com to receive an invitation to join the webinar. Organizer Jonas Magram said that's a necessary procedure to ensure security.

The musical lineup features harpist Annie Savage, pianist Steve Hillis, guitarist Mike Cantafio, Uilleann piper Tim Britton and the host himself, Magram. They are all donating their time to the cause, and will be performing from home.

'This is a terrific group, all very accomplished musicians who will play a variety of music,” Magram said.

Magram said this year's proceeds will be split between three nonprofits: Southern Iowa Economic Development Association's (SIEDA) Fairfield Office, the Ottumwa Family Crisis Center and Airline Ambassadors, an international nonprofit that serves the world's poorest children and provides training to airline personnel to spot and stop child trafficking.

Carol Long, program specialist serving SIEDA's Jefferson and Keokuk county offices, said SIEDA's portion of the money raised at the concert will go toward its children's emergency fund, which provides Christmas presents for kids among other things. It gives families three kinds of care packages: personal care, infant and toddler care, and cleaning supplies. These are all items not covered by food stamps. Families can pick one of the three packets every quarter. SIEDA also gives families food vouchers at Hy-Vee once a quarter.

Magram said he chooses the charities that receive money from the concert, and he's kept it the same the last six or seven years. He said the concert started out funding local organizations, and as it grew, he was able to add international nonprofits like Airline Ambassadors.

'I wanted to find charities that gave a high percentage of their funds to the recipients,” Magram said.

The Children's Holiday Benefit has raised more than a quarter-million dollars since its inception, and this year has set an ambitious fundraising goal: $20,000. The concert usually raises between $12,000 and $16,000, and last year it raised $15,000.

Why set such a high goal?

Magram said it's because the pandemic has created hardships not seen before, so the need is even greater than in past years.

'Some donors have been impacted by the pandemic and won't be able to support us this year, so we're asking new donors to step forward,” Magram said.

SIEDA handles the donations, so those wishing to donate can do so online at https://www.sieda.org/donate-now/ or by writing a check to SIEDA with the words 'children's benefit” in the memo line. It's important to know that if you donate with the link, you must write 'children's benefit” in the note field so SIEDA knows to split your donation three ways as described above. This also allows Magram to track the donations that come from the concert.