Image 1 / 2
Photo by Jimmy McDonald
She, her husband, their two daughters and a family friend had traveled nearly an hour to see Covington’s free show to benefit the Our Daily Bread Food Ministry in Rockingham and Backpack Pals of Richmond County.
They were among an estimated 5,000 to 6,000 people at the hour and a half show and taping of footage for a music video. While it wasn’t the first time she said they’d seen Covington in concert, she thought it was a great idea to have people donate to these hunger-related causes.
“I felt like this was a worthwhile thing to do because it’s to feed the kids,” Reed said.
Reed’s party didn’t come empty-handed. Not only was she carrying a plastic grocery bag full of donations in each hand, so were the other four people with her.
“Hunger’s a problem in every county,” she said.
Our Daily Bread Food Ministry Director Debbie Rohleder said the donations were so plentiful her volunteers have been able to accomplish little more than getting them inside the building as of Monday morning.
“We don’t really know how much we have because it’s so much,” she said. “I’d say we at least have about 2,500 pounds of food here. Maybe as much as 3,000 pounds.”
She said the food drive around the concert will definitely help the ministry serve the approximately 1,500 people who depend on it to stave off hunger each month.
“I would say it was a big success,” Rohleder said. “I think it was a success, not only for the food ministry, but for the county and the city as well to have Bucky come home and give back to the community.
“In the midst of all the bad news Richmond County has heard lately, Bucky was a ray of sunshine on a rainy, cloudy day, both metaphorically and literally.”
She said the donation bins, which were overflowing and had boxes and bags sat beside them as the show started, contained a lot of canned foods.
“I also have seen several things like pudding cups, fruit cups and other stuff for the kids to eat in there,” Rohleder said. “Of course, all of that will be separated out and given to the Backpack Pals.”
Backpack Pals of Richmond County Coordinator Pastor Steve Crews said he didn’t yet know Monday morning how many donations had come in on Saturday night, but the naked eye told him this was beneficial for his organization.
“We feel like this was definitely very successful,” Crews said. “Also, we feel like this will go further than just the donations over the weekend.”
He said that because of the exposure his non-profit organization received during the lead-up to the show, offers and donations have been pouring in.
He gave one example, Nestle Corporation agreed to donate 700 boxes of Juicy Juice to the program, which will go out in a week through the charity.
“I feel like we may even see more when the special is televised in April,” Crews said. “We’re just so thankful to Bucky and Lyric Street Records for bringing attention to the children of Richmond County.”
He said the lift the concert gave Backpack Pals will only last so long, though, and he hopes regular donors won’t grow complacent once the Nashville camera crews leave town.
“We go through product really fast here, but it will be a big help,” Crews said. “I know that it will be.”
During the show itself, Covington stayed true to the humble roots he spoke of in multiple interviews last week, thanking the audience for their support throughout his young career.
He especially thanked those from Rockingham and Richmond County, for its support during his stint on American Idol, as well as for following his career now that he’s a recording artist.
Afterwards, he said he struggled with a slight case of stage fright before the opening number.
“I was probably more nervous about playing back home in Rockingham than any other stage across the country,” Covington admitted Monday. “This is something I’ve wanted to do for a long time as a thank you to everyone in Rockingham who were so great to support me and my music from the very beginning on American Idol all the way through today.”
During the set he’d so looked forward to, he played a catalogue of his top hits off the first album, mixed in with tunes from his upcoming release, and brought roars from the crowd each time he addressed them.
“I think it’s great that he came back here and put on a show for all of us back here,” area resident Courtney Chance said sitting along the wall beside the Washington Street RBC Centura bank.
She said she couldn’t recall that many people being in downtown Rockingham at one time “in a long, long time.”
“I don’t think he’s forgot where he’s from, and the music sounds great. He’s putting on a good show, and I know they’re having fun,” she said, pointing at a group of teenagers who were dancing and singing along with the fourth song of the set. “What else could you ask for?”
“We were very pleased with the crowd that turned out,” Rockingham City Events Planner Kim Williams said Monday morning. “We think it turned out really good, and I know their production company was really pleased with the way everything went.”
She said Covington’s record label representation and handlers were very complimentary of the community during their visit.
“I think they got everything accomplished they wanted to accomplish,” Williams said. “We were really pleased with the way everything went.”
http://www.yourdailyjournal.com/pages/mm_games
I had so much fun XD