A song or two for those in need

There are some of us in the Symbian Foundation that have formed a band of sorts, we have yet to practice or play a gig and are missing a few essentials like a keyboard and drums but the intent is there.

After the earthquake in Haiti, we started to discuss what we could do to raise money to help those in need.
At first we discussed a couple of people doing some performances, we then wondered about a talent show and finally decided karaoke was going to be the best way to raise some money.

So the date was set Friday 24th February, 2010 at The Crown public house, 108 Blackfriars Road SE1 and a just giving page was setup http://justgiving.co.uk/karaokeaid to take donations.
Some of the Symbian team agreed to produce a list of songs that could be voted on before the night, with them singing their winning songs.

The night turned out great, almost everyone that came along sang.
Everyone really got into the spirit of the event and sang their hearts out and some didn't want it to end.
One of my favourite performances was Gansta's Paradise with Sylvester & his crew.

We raised £2,160 before the night and a further £240 on the night, our original target was £5,000 but if we can raise over £3,000 by tomorrow evening that would be fantastic.

The success of the event has been inspirational and we were really taken aback by the level of generosity from people with their large donations.

You can now find links to videos of the night at http://justgiving.com/karaokeaid

We are putting the names of all the people that have donated into a hat to win the coverted Symbian Rubber duck featured above, a Symbian t-shirt or a fleece.
The draw will take place tomorrow (Friday 5th March) at 1600.

The money we are raising will aid the victims of the Haiti earthquake and other people that are in desperate need of medical aid.
The aid is provided Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) (Doctors Without Frontiers), who are committed to providing medical aid where it is most needed, regardless of race, religon or gender.

This was the first time I was involved in organising this type of fundraising event and i'm please how it turned out.
Finally just a last big thank you to all those that assisted in getting the event setup, those that sang and especially those that donated.