Singing for others
Musical family raises money for charity
NEW WATERFORD — While COVID-19 has kept most people home, a New Waterford family has opened their abode via livestream to not only entertain but also to raise close to $100,000 for charity.
If you've ever been to a theatre, wedding or event in Cape Breton, you've probably seen Jenn Sheppard and Stephen Muise on stage. They're professional musicians and singers in high demand, performing in groups and in various musicals and shows throughout Cape Breton. Their daughter Jordyn Crocker has joined the family business and is currently studying in Nova Scotia Community College's music arts program operating out of the Convent.
They're a busy bunch, or at least they were until COVID19 hit last spring and they found themselves, like every other musician and performer in Canada, out of work due to cancellations caused by the pandemic. That's when they decided to try something new but based on something they had been doing for years.
“We're musicians, we don't get weekends (off),” said Sheppard. “So we started having what we were calling garbage night parties on Thursday nights, because nobody likes to gather their garbage, nobody likes to clean out their fridge and say what do I have to throw out and where are all my recyclables — everybody hates to do that.
"So we started doing it on Thursday nights because we had to do all those things and I would say to Stephen — this is our date night. We would mix up a couple of drinks, we would gather the garbage and then we would go out in the garage and we would take a guitar with us and it was our way of saying taking the garbage out sucks so let's turn it into a party.
"We started doing that every Thursday night and it became kind of an inside joke with all of our friends because they would say what are you doing tonight and we would say obviously we're partying in the garage because it's garbage night.”
Over the years, people would show up at those garbage night parties so when COVID-19 hit, they decided to take the party online and see if anyone would show up.
They did — thousands of them.
ONLINE PARTYGOERS
“We knew it was risky — people might like this, they might hate it, but whoever wants to come can come party with us and if we get people, cool, and if we don't get people, oh well, we'll go back to our hovel and do it on our own. There was no real risk in it to our minds. We just thought we would throw it up and see what happens. But it immediately caught on and when it did, we thought oh well, if we get any audience and have a platform, why don't we try to use it and do some good?”
In the first 10 weeks of online parties, they raised more than $65,000 for charities and even raised enough to purchase 48 iPads for the island's nursing homes, which allowed families to stay in touch with their loved ones during the lockdown.
“We really thought we would raise enough money to buy three or four iPads,” said Sheppard. “That night we put the call out and that's when we were introduced to Katherine van Nostrand and her family — she called us and … with her help and us beating the drum we ended up making enough money to purchase 48 iPads. We delivered two to three to almost every facility in Cape Breton. That was the best day ever.”
The garbage night parties took a break in the summer but resumed in the fall for another 10 sessions, which just ended Dec. 3. In total, the parties have helped raised more than $97,000 for charity and for that, they're grateful.
“We don't lose sight of the fact that we're just the vehicle that delivers the money,” said Muise. “The people who are doing the real work on the fundraising are the people who are doing the donating. It's not like Jennifer and I and Jordyn are handing over our hard-earned dollars to the fundraisers. We're just providing our service and we're being the middle man.
“It's not only about the money, it's about the community awareness and the idea of the bringing together the community — I think that's the charm behind garbage night. The money obviously for the organizations is a plus but I think it really, especially through the dark COVID time, helped bring our community together.”