Post by the Scribe on Sept 4, 2022 6:41:26 GMT
Just One Gala at a Time
just1atatime.org/concerts/
Our 2021 Virtual Gala was a great success, raising much-needed and greatly-appreciated funding for our initiatives!
We send our appreciation to Peter Yarrow, Marshall Chapman, and Jeanine Cummins for their warmth and insight during the Gala.
And we send our gratitude to all who donated.
Click the video to watch and listen to our archive of this lovely evening.
Virtual Gala Celebration
Tuesday, September 15, 2020
Our Virtual Gala made for a warm and wonderful evening, highlighted by Peter Yarrow’s uplifting songs, Linda Ronstadt’s insightful perspectives, and a robust auction that raised much-needed funding for our initiatives. Our deepest gratitude for the generous emotional and financial support.
Bringing humanitarian aid and hope to the most vulnerable.
© 2022 | One Story at a Time, Inc. | EIN: 84-1936944
Our Story
On April 30, 2019, I was invited to join Peter Yarrow for a concert at Casa del Migrante en Tijuana A.C., a shelter that houses a small number of the hundreds of thousands of people seeking relief and asylum. The visit to Casa was arranged for Peter, of the acclaimed folk music trio Peter, Paul and Mary, who wanted to sing for the refugees at the border in an expression of solidarity and compassion for them and their desperate struggle to find safety and welcome in a world which had, tragically, turned its back on them.
Although Casa del Migrante was considered a men’s safehouse, there were lots of children with their fathers because many of the mothers were “missing.”
There were photographers and journalists present, and Peter asked that anyone who didn’t want to be photographed go to the back of the room. I was stunned to see many men pick up their children and go behind a screen; later, I learned that cartels and gangs were hunting some of them because of their refusal to join. As a result, their lives were at risk, and so they fled.
A girl came and sat beside me, and at that moment, my world shifted. She looked about 11. She was wearing a grimy and oversized leisure suit, and her arms and legs were as dirty as her clothes, but her face didn’t reflect that misery. She wore a huge smile, and her eyes were full of spirit. She sang in Spanish as Peter performed magically. Soon, there were a few little boys climbing on us, and suddenly we were singing at the front of the room with everyone else, many of us holding small children, I with my arm around this girl. The people were scared and physically worn, but they were full of life and love for one another. I knew I had to do something more than just feel empathy and concern.
That night Peter and I decided to form a nonprofit foundation to ease some of the suffering we witnessed and support the resilience and strength that had moved us so greatly. Overwhelmed by the magnitude of the problem but inspired by the individual stories we heard, we decided to support the people and causes that had inspired us – one story at a time.
⏤ Linda Carroll
