Much of the food and money donated during Sunday's Okotoks Music Drive has now been donated to the Okotoks Food Bank.

Residents donated 1271 pounds of food and $1295 during the event.

These totals are preliminary at this point, as a few musicians have yet to drop off their donations, and the online fundraiser is still running until the end of the month.

Executive Director of the Okotoks Food Bank Association Pamela McLean says it's an impressive accomplishment, especially with organizers Andrea Siqueira and Jessica DeCoste having been complete strangers who put the event together in such a short time.

"You could see and hear that they accomplished in a very short period of time. A matter of weeks to get something of this scale up and running."

McLean says aside from the donations, the music was a gift to residents in and of itself.

"I think we've all been a little deprived of hearing live music. Don't get me wrong, the Zoom concerts, the Facebook concerts, they're helping us survive and find enjoyment, but nothing can replace live music."

(Left to Right) Andrea Siquera, Pamela McLean, and Jessica DeCoste.

Both organizers gathered with several of the participating musicians at the food bank on Tuesday for the weighing of the donations, which was the first time the organizers met most of the performers.

DeCoste says she was pleased to see the musicians' reactions to just how much had been donated.

"A lot of the time when they were coming, two or three bins had been pulled back because they had been filled, and all they saw was two bins sitting in the front looking pretty full, and they thought 'wow that's a lot of food,' and it's like 'you have no idea, they already took three full ones away!' It was nice to see the look of satisfaction and pride, that them going out and having a good time with their friends or family and playing music did this."

Talks of a second Music Drive are ongoing, with hopes of holding another near the end of June.

Siqueira says she hopes the success of the first drive will inspire other musicians to take part.

"Maybe we'll see new musicians coming forward, and people that have wanted to do it or could not do it. I want people to feel comfortable, families and children to feel comfortable to play their music outside. To spread the joy and love through their music."

To view the online fundraiser page, click here.

 

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