Gathering for a group photo at the Buffalo Grand Hotel are (from left): Music Industry Coordinator Professor Armand Petri, George Marino, Matthew Gillespie, Justina Race, Kathleen Fischer, Kaitlin Morey, Miranda Tubinis, Owen Doran, Brenton Newcomb, Brandon Jones, Joyce Gonzalez Febres, Matthew Oliver, Matthew Hencinski, James Sprecker and Sophia Auteri.
Students enrolled in HAIL! Fredonia Records lent a generous helping hand at “The Roaring ‘20s,” a fundraiser that benefits For Our Daughters, Inc., an organization that honors cancer survivors and is dedicated to helping young women live longer, healthier lives.
The eighth annual breast cancer awareness gala event at the Buffalo Grand Hotel on Oct. 26 featured dinner, dancing, raffles and a silent auction.
Over the span of nearly seven hours, more than a dozen students enrolled in MUSB 425 Music Marketing and Promotions helped run the gala. Their key duties included set up, handling raffle baskets, processing money, guiding guests to their seats and dismantling decorations and banners and cleaning up afterwards.
Beginning in late September, students promoted the fundraiser on campus on social media platforms and posters and in radio interviews, video promos and electronic press kits.
“HAIL! Fredonia Records has been working with For Our Daughters, Inc. for the past few years and we are planning on continuing to work with them for the future years to come,” said Sophia Auteri, project manager at HAIL! Fredonia Records.
All proceeds raised at the gala go to the Four Our Daughters foundation to help young women between the ages of 11 and 19 in educating them on how to advocate for their own health and wellness, Ms. Auteri noted. Much of the organization’s work is focused on middle- and high-school age women.
Approximately 180 people attended the event, Auteri added.
On campus, students staged their own For Our Daughters fundraiser, a screening of “Killer Rack,” a 2015 musical horror comedy photographed in Buffalo, on Oct. 19 in McEwen Hall. They raised $200 through raffle tickets and ticket sales. Matthew Hencinski and Justina Race won the costume contest.
Armand Petri, coordinator of the Music Industry program, wrote the film score. He was joined by film director Greg Lamberson and writer Paul McGinnis in a question/answer session that followed the screening.
“Killer Rack” has been screened at film festivals in the U.S., including the Halloween Film Festival at the AFI Theatre in Washington, D.C., and around the world. Joe Rozler, a 1981 Fredonia alumnus, co-wrote songs for the film with Mr. Petri.
