Oklahoma Christian University’s Symphonic Band is selling Spring Sing survival kits to support club members and raise money for a space-themed performance in Texas this month.
Each kit costs from $10 (the “Just-in Case Kit”) to $20 (the “Break-a-leg Basket”) and contains tea, energy drinks, cookies, popcorn, pretzels and more to help students manage rigorous Spring Sing preparations.
Kits may also include a personalized note written by the person ordering it.
Ellie Lewis, PR and social media officer for the Symphonic Band, said ordering a kit is a great way for friends and family to support their loved ones.
“Basically, it’s that time of year where everybody is super tired and we’re all pretty dead, especially if you’re participating in Spring Sing,” Lewis said. “It’s a way for parents, family and friends to give a little pick-me-up to whoever they know that’s participating in Spring Sing.”
Lewis said she hopes the fundraiser gives people an opportunity to encourage each other and give back to the community while raising money for the band.
“Everyone that does Spring Sing works so hard to make it happen,” Lewis said. “They put in hours and hours into rehearsal and sacrifice their time, their sleep — sometimes their schoolwork to make this happen, and it is such a big deal for OC culture. To show people that you care about them in what is arguably the hardest time of the year is just a great thing to do.”
Band Treasurer Raven Cruzan said the original fundraiser idea would have taken place around Valentine’s Day, but it was cancelled.
“We had a fundraiser originally planned and it just wasn’t going to work,” Cruzan said. “It was Valentine’s-themed. Everyone was doing Valentine’s fundraisers.”
Cruzan said Lewis proposed repurposing the supplies from Valentine’s Day into the Spring Sing survival kits.
“We thought that we wouldn’t benefit from having a Valentine’s fundraiser so she reallocated those resources into these survival kits,” Cruzan said.
The Symphonic Band is raising funds for a trip to Fort Worth Christian School in Texas.
Proceeds from the survival kit fundraiser will help pay for transport and a donation to the Mansfield Wind Ensemble which will perform alongside Oklahoma Christian.
“We’re just trying to raise some funds to help with the transportation and to help with food costs,” Band Director George Schrader said. “We are also hiring a few musicians down there to help fill up the ensemble, so we need to provide them with a little bit of a stipend. There’s some costs involved in all of this, so we’re just trying to raise a little extra money to make that happen.”
Schrader said Oklahoma Christian has an ongoing relationship with the band director at Fort Worth Christian.
“The band is planning a trip to Fort Worth Christian School,” Schrader said. “One of our alums, Stephen Grant, is the director of bands down there. I’ve worked closely with him in regards to making a strong connection with that program to be a good recruitment center for OC.”
The concert will be performed twice: once at Fort Worth Christian and once at Oklahoma Christian in Judd Theater.
The Symphonic Band will perform Eric Whitaker’s “Deep Field” in what Schrader described as their highest value production, complete with light show and audience interaction via an app.
“Deep Field is the title of one of the first photos of the Hubble Telescope,” Schrader said. “It’s a fantastic image, and it really blew the minds of astronomers when they first saw it. It looked out into an area of space where we couldn’t really see much of anything. What came back was a tremendous amount of galaxies and stars and nebulas and it was astonishing.”
Oklahoma Christian students can attend the performance for free at 7:00 p.m. on March 12 in Judd Theater.
Friends and family can purchase Spring Sing survival kits at pay.oc.edu/band.
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