SAVE THE ALLEY OAKLAND FUNDRAISER REACHES $75,000 GOAL ONE WEEK AFTER GOFUNDME PAGE WAS MADE
From YouTube Channel: December 24, 2020 at 02:45PM
ONN – SAVE THE ALLEY OAKLAND FUNDRAISER REACHES $75,000 GOAL ONE WEEK AFTER GOFUNDME PAGE WAS MADE
Yep. The effort to raise $75,000 to Save The Alley just topped $75,000 and is now at $75,425 as of 2:39 PM EST.
The group team and page created by Brian Seet, the Piano Player at The Alley at 3325 Grand Avenue in Oakland, California, worked beyond expectations.
I have not yet reached out to my friend Jackie Simpkins, The Owner of The Alley, for her reaction, but what a nice Christmas gift.
The Alley was battered by the impact of The Pandemic and shelter-in-place-without-compensation policies. Jackie was just weeks from closing for good.
Not anymore!
Merry Christmas!
UPDATE:
On the page for The Save The Alley GoFundMe fundraiser, Brian Seet, The Alley’s Piano Player, wrote this:
WE DID IT! THANKS TO YOU!!!!! At about 11:04AM PST this morning, we SMASHED through our Phase 1 goal of $75,000. This funding will guarantee The Alley’s monthly expenses through winter and spring. We did this in an ASTOUNDING 7 DAYS!!! CONGRATULATIONS ALL!!!
In talking with Jackie (owner of the Alley) a few days ago, she was completely overwhelmed by the outpouring of support and love you all have for The Alley. Perhaps because it’s Christmas Eve, this spirit of support, giving and rallying community reminds me of that scene in “It’s a Wonderful Life” where George Bailey, after being at the end of his rope but ultimately realizes how much one man, with friends, can change the world, he comes home after his “dark night of the soul” experience and is greeted by his Bedford Falls community who pull out all the stops to help him out. In this case, George Bailey is The Alley and the community is YOU who have reached down deep in these difficult times and have come to its rescue. That scene at the end always gets me. Always…
Be heart warmed and proud! Your contributions are a huge gift to Oakland, The Bay Area not to mention future generations. You’re helping preserve a unique venue and a very rare American tradition. You are part of an inspiring story with a message of hope, community, and good news of which there hasn’t been much lately. You have made a difference in a world in which we haven’t had much control lately. The last verse of “The Oakland Song” goes: “She has pride, she has hope, And oh what a view, Oakland, we’re for you. Oakland, we’re for you!”. It says “Oakland,” but right now, as a symbol of hope and pride, it should read “Alley, we’re for you!”.
Though we’ve reached this HUGE milestone that will assure that The Alley can keep the bills paid through this dark winter we’re still in, The Alley is facing renovations costs to meet health code requirements that could prevent its reopening. Your dedicated fundraising team is working with Jackie to understand the funding needed, implications on The Alley’s heritage status, as well as timeline to get this work done, since starting the any work would ideally start and finish during this closure. The initial estimates are $100k so for now, we’ll be keeping this GoFundMe campaign open to provide a place to collect funding for those costs so please continue to spread the word and contribute however and whenever you can! And look out for more details about “Phase 2” from our fundraising team very soon!
LASTLY, please thank each of the fundraising team members for their passion, dedication and contributions. This would not be possible without them: Rachel Howard, Dave Schweisguth, Rachel Goodman, Colin Cahill, Colin Hicks, Joe Costa, Angelique Alexander, Gretchen Hellman, Jon Bartlett, Sepee Zabala, Adele Bidet, Tom Silva, Ashley Ryan, Annie Wilson, Tom Silva, Bryan Dyer, Nancy Smith.
Thank you for being on this continuing journey with us!
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