JO DEE MESSINA
ANNOUNCES JUNE 25 SHOW TO RAISE MONEY
FOR JOPLIN, MO TORNADO VICTIMS
In April, multi-platinum and award-winning country singer/songwriter JO DEE MESSINA announced her “A MILLION DOORS” campaign to help raise $2.3 million for a non-profit school in Nashville, the Holy Trinity Montessori, by donating proceeds from the sale of a new song “Carry Me.” She was also working on setting up a concert tour to benefit the school–and a Saturday, June 25 show in Pittsburg, Kansas was confirmed, but funds from that show are now earmarked to help victims of the recent violent tornados that devastated the region.
After learning that promoter Al Zar lived in Joplin, MO and lost everything he had, JO DEE and KATE RILEY, the head of the Montessori school, decided the Red Cross needed the money more than their school. “After the tornados, I reached out to Al, knowing they hit close to where we were having the concert,” says JO DEE. “He lost everything. When I told Kate about this, she was saddened and suggested that if the shows do happen that they should give the money to him. When my management offered this to Al, he said, ‘Instead of me, why don’t we offer the proceeds to all the people in Joplin, by donating proceeds to the Joplin Red Cross?’ And so we are!”
As for her benevolent activities and neighborly attitude, JO DEE says, “I feel it’s important to ‘be there’ for each other. At times I spread myself a bit too thin trying to help everyone. But, God has blessed me with the passion and compassion to want to make a difference. When I meet my maker face to face, he won’t care how many records I’ve sold. He’ll want to know what I did with my life that mattered. To me, helping really matters.”
Stay tuned for more JO DEE tour dates.