Service Hours Newsletter

4-26-2018 Kelsey Smith Volume 1, Issue 1

A Circle of Friends Choirs

A Circle of Friends is a two choir group, both voice and
bells, that performs at different churches in the area to
raise money for different charities and organizations. I
have personally been a part of this group, specifically
the voice choir, since I was in seventh grade and it is a
fantastic way to give back to the community. The
group is incredibly inclusive and welcoming and is
made up of people of all ages and abilities.

This past Christmas concert season I sang with the

choir to raise money for Hosanna Industries, the Su-
san G. Komen Foundation, Chimbote Peru, the Salva-
tion Army, and EDCO Pool and Park. Being able to give
back to people and seeing how many people the
choirs touch and inspire is incredible. People always
come up to choir members after concerts to tell them
how much the music touched them. I have even
heard a few stories of people deciding to come back My friend Lexi, her grandma, and I at choir
to church after attending our concerts. practice.
As well as helping the community, A Circle of Friends
Choirs have also been providing a lot of support to their
director, David English. David was diagnosed with lung
and lymphatic cancer in January of 2016. Since then
he has experienced a lot of ups and downs with his
health, but the choirs have always been there to sup-
port him. Being able to be a friend to David and help
him through everything has been a very moving experi-
ence and has really helped me deepen my faith, as he
is a very faith-filled person too.

St. Gregory’s School Drama Program

St. Gregory’s is my old grade school that I attended for nine years. ed, I painted them and added
As a way to give back to the school, Aaron Sutton and I helped the details to make them look
drama program with their production. They put on a show called more realistic. During the show
Back to the Summer, a spin-off of Back to the Future, and changed Aaron and I also helped run the
it to be a musical so the seventh and eighth graders could show off lights and sound. The kids were
their singing and acting abilities. Aaron constructed several set all very happy with how the
pieces, such as a hot dog stand, a “Back to School” banner, a Holly- show turned out in the end,
wood sign, two cacti, and a pyramid. After these were all construct- and it was overall a very good
experience and a great way to
give back to my old school.