Though blues music usually evokes feelings of pain and mourning, the 25 bands and thousands of beer-loving fans who convened at Island Park in Springfield last weekend used the music to relay a sense of hope to underserved members of their community at the second annual Willamette Valley Blues and Brews Festival.
The festival, which kicked off Friday morning and lasted until almost midnight Saturday, was a fundraiser for the Springfield/Eugene Habitat for Humanity as well as a food drive for Food for Lane County. Organizers encouraged attendees to bring three non-perishable food items to be collected at the gate, and all money raised from ticket sales went to further HFH’s mission to provide decent, affordable homes to the area’s low- and middle-income families.
Volunteers donated time; musicians donated talent and local breweries such as Widmer, Ninkasi and Hop Valley each donated different crafted brews. With so much contributed goods and labor, the festival was able to keep operating costs low and ensure more of every dollar raised would eventually be used to build economical homes.
FFLC Operations Manager Ron Detwiler believed this year’s festival would be an even greater success than last year’s, easily breaking the food drive’s original record of 5,200 pounds. Though the white barrels full of soup cans and dry goods that lined the festival’s entrance will not be amassed and weighed until later this week, Detwiler is optimistic that this year’s final tally will be over 10,000 pounds.
In addition to the direct benefits of the food drive, FFLC’s presence at the festival also helped to inform and educate the public about issues surrounding hunger and food insecurity in Lane County.
“Partnerships like this one are great because they raise awareness about hunger in our community by reaching people who might not otherwise hear or think about Food for Lane County,” Detwiler said. “We are always looking for new and innovative ways to help educate our community about hunger issues, and (we) view this event as another wonderful opportunity.”
In the end, as Detwiler described, the festival is a “win-win” because attendees get to do something they enjoy — drink delicious beer and listen to talented blues performers — while helping people in need.
On Saturday afternoon, HFH volunteer Rosie Kirwin staffed Habitat’s information booth near the festival’s entrance, greeting curious passersby and distributing pamphlets outlining the organization’s past and ongoing projects. Kirwin was convinced that profits from the event slated for donation would be twice as much as what was collected a year ago.
“Last year we were able to donate about $10,000,” Kirwin said. “Now we hope to raise over $20,000.”
Like Detwiler, Kirwin said HFH’s role at the festival fostered more than just monetary gains.
“It gets the name out,” Kirwin said. “Even if people don’t stop at our booth, they see (HFH’s) name and make the connection that this is all for charity.”
Matthew McLain, one of the festival’s organizers and an assistant men’s rugby coach at the University, said Friday’s food donation totals exceeded 25 barrels, beating the amount collected on the same day last year by two barrels. McLain was confident the old records for both money and food collected would be broken by the time headlining artist Karen Lovely left the stage that evening.
“My expectation is that we will raise considerably more money at the end of today than last year,” McLain said.
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