Winter Benefit Concert helps students at RCHS

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Morg

Students perform at the RCHS Winter Benefit Concert.

On Friday, Dec. 1, students and families filled the RCHS multipurpose room to raise funds for the Save Our Students (SOS) program. The National Honor Society and Red Cross Club joined forces in order to put on the Winter Concert. The night was filled with singing, dancing, and much more.

In order to prepare for this event, the clubs hosted auditions. All talents were welcome at the auditions, which were held on Wednesday, Nov. 8. There were 13 acts in total. The concert was hosted from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.

Junior Mary Christy Cortes said the National Honor Society has been planning this event since the beginning of the year. Thanks to the cooperation of staff and students, the program was able to raise money to help others.

Junior Justin Jackson records Mary Christy Cortes as she performs. (Morgan Renfro)

Tickets were sold for $12 at the student store and $15 at the door. The price for admission included food and admittance to the event. The Red Cross Club was responsible for providing the food at the event. The MPR was decorated with shades of blue and white to represent the change in the weather. The venue was set up by students and was run by students throughout the night. Students sold tickets, served food, and worked with all the technical components the performers needed.

Cortes is in the Red Cross Club, and she also performed at the event.

“[Red Cross] helped out with catering and advertising. I designed the tickets and I also made the flyers NHS spread across campus,” said Cortes.

Red Cross Club and NHS started the Winter Concert program nearly 10 years ago. However, due to Covid-19, the concert has not been put on for the last three years because of large group restrictions. The concert has supported numerous charities, but in years past, they started working with the SOS program on campus. The SOS program is used to help provide students with food, school materials, and other essentials. They also use the money from the performance to buy holiday gifts to support students on campus.

Senior Janinia Gbenoba strums the guitar as she performs at the concert. (Morgan Renfro)

“We usually give at least $500. Some years more,” National Honor Society supervisor Ms. Kristin Herchenroeder said.

The proceeds from the concert help students on campus with anything they may need while allowing students an opportunity to show off their skills and talents.

“I was initially scared but after auditioning there were people who gave positive feedback and that was really nice,” Cortes said.