The Okotoks Food Bank Concert served a great need this year.
Held Dec. 13 and 14, the concert featured an array of the area’s best musical talent, all performing to benefit the Okotoks Food Bank as usage hits record highs.
“You could definitely feel the spirit in the community, and just everybody coming out,” said concert committee member Dacy Zacharias. “It gives me shivers, it's a great concert.
“There's a lot going on in the community and we felt very honoured that people chose to spend their time and money and come out to the concert.”
The concert took a different twist this year, with the organizers aiming for an East Coast kitchen party.
“I know we're not on the East Coast, but really what kitchen party represented was just that sense of sitting around in your house with your family and friends, jamming on music and singing carols together,” Zacharias said.
Anchoring that were longtime concert contributors Dwight Forseth and Jim McLennan, who were emcees from the wings throughout the show.
“Dwight and Jim stepped up from the very beginning,” Zacharias said. “Jim has played in the concert for many years, so it was such a blessing to have him, and then to join Dwight as emcees, we were going for a more relaxed feel, and those guys definitely helped pull that off."
Stepping up to the mic were MzBehavin’, The Little Butts, The Foothills Brass, 33 Union, Mike King, Brettyn Rose and Chase Morgan, and pub favourite Haggis.
A few new combinations were formed, such as Mike King accompanying 33 Union to make ‘33 and a 1/3'.
“This year we didn’t have any solo acts and that was again with the theme of the kitchen party, sitting with your friends and jamming on guitars,” Zacharias said.
“And so we combined a couple of the acts together, for instance Brettyn Rose and Chase Morgan each did their own songs but then did a duet together.
“So that was very cool to see those two friends singing together.”
Another first for the concert was the Foothills Brass.
“They blew everyone away,” Zacharias said. “Everybody was just so surprised and it’s really, really neat to hear something you would normally think of as being very classical just able to bring that style of music into the concert.”
While donations are still being tallied, the concert brought in over $40,000 and donation bins from the two nights weighed in for a total of 1,714 pounds.
Okotoks Food Bank executive director Pamela McLean rejoiced following the concert.
“As bringing the community together, highlighting our local music talent, we were 100 per cent successful,” McLean said.
“I have noticed quite an uptick in the number of online donations coming to us from our CanadaHelps presence ever since Tuesday night when the community had become a little more aware of the actual numbers that we’re facing, and the crisis that Alberta is facing.
“The only other time I saw this was the very early days of the pandemic, so that was really nice to see.”
Also in the pot is $2,000 in spontaneous donations at the door.
“That kind of generosity, I view that as a huge success,” McLean said.
This comes at a time of great need, with McLean explaining in an earlier interview that based on statistics from Food Bank Canada, Alberta is leading the country in food bank usage.
Making Alberta an outlier are the facts that 20 per cent of food bank users are employed, but still can’t afford to cover living expenses, and 11 per cent are homeowners, where across Canada the average is seven per cent.
The Okotoks Food Bank is currently seeing approximately triple its typical use from past years.
So while the concert made its full-scale comeback, McLean was also happy to see it keep the approachable feel.
“I certainly felt the intimacy,” McLean said. “There were about 300 chairs, so it really felt a bit more like in your living room or in your kitchen with this kitchen party thing they put on.
“I can’t commend the committee enough for changing things up, but still provide us with this incredible evening of music.”
Seeing the talent come out of the woodwork for another year moved McLean.
“Most of those bands are based in either Okotoks or surrounding areas,” she said.
“Just that sense of pride – talk about Albertans stepping up – the fact that our very own musicians are consistently stepping up to help the food bank in this manner.
“I just choke up every time I think about it – it's just so incredible.”
For years the concert committee was spearheaded by the late John Fraser, who passed away in August 2021. Carrying on the legacy, Zacharias said the return to a full-scale concert was a cause unto itself.
“The whole committee talked about this so many times; the content really delivers more than monetary donation, and our slogan this year was ‘Food for the body and music for the soul,’” Zacharias said.
"We feel like that's so important, what concert and music does for the soul of a community is just so important.”
For more information about the Okotoks Food Bank or to donate, visit https://okotoksfoodbank.ca.
