Caesars Windsor, St. Clair College to host charity concert

By Justin Prince

Caesars Windsor will be hosting a holiday concert to raise donations for local food banks.

Sleighing Hunger, which was announced Oct. 26, will feature performances from local bands the S’Aints, the Diplomats Drum and Bugle Corps as well as students from the St. Clair College Music Theatre Arts program. Through a partnership with St. Clair College, the event will help raise donations through ticket and holiday music CD sales for the Unemployed Help Centre, The Downtown Mission and Chatham-Kent Outreach for Hunger. The money raised will also go towards scholarships for the college. This will the second year the concert will be performed at the casino.

“We are proud to once again provide a world-class venue to put on another incredible concert and showcase these talented musicians,” said Caesars Director of Entertainment Tim Trombley in a media release. “It carries on our company’s annual corporate giving tradition of ensuring the holidays are joyful for all, including those most in need by donating to area food banks and charities.”

Miranda Underwood, the president of the Student Representative Council at St. Clair, said the campaign helps give food banks the publicity they need to get their shelves filled. Christmas is the most important time of the year for local food banks, when the greatest amount of donations come in. Underwood pointed to the college’s food bank at its downtown campus.

“The more publicity we have around the food bank, the more the donations come in,” she said.

Last year’s campaign raised more than $45,000 for local food banks and charities.

“One thing I’m so proud of with St. Clair College is that we’re consistently working with the community,” said Underwood. “I think that especially with the holiday season coming up, this really embodies our spirit of community at our college.”

Underwood also stressed the importance of food banks within the region. She said events such as the charity concert help shed light on a legitimate issue in Windsor-Essex County – hunger.

“There are a lot of giving people in this community and I think that’s specifically because in Windsor-Essex, you directly know someone who’s affected by something or another,” said Underwood. “We’re a tight-knit community and unfortunately, there are people who are struggling to put food on their plate. I think it’s because we see it first-hand or we know someone first-hand. As long as we’re aware of our opportunities to help out, people are so willing to give.”

The charity concert will be Dec. 20 at 8 p.m. at The Colosseum at the casino. For more information or to buy tickets for the concert, visit http://www.sleighinghunger.com/.