Gainesville Choruses Deliver Check to Helping Hands Clinic

Press release from Barbergators Chorus

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – On July 23, the Barbergators Chorus and the Gainesville Harmony Show Chorus (GHSC) joined voices to present their joint summer show, “For the Longest Time”.  On Wednesday, Aug. 17, 2022, the members of the Barbergators Chorus presented over $850 raised at the show to Helping Hands Clinic.  

The concert, titled “For the Longest Time”, was the first time the two choruses performed together in over two and a half years. Both choruses specialize in the a cappella stylings of the barbershop quartet and normally perform together at least once a year. But when the COVID-19 pandemic started, both choruses had to shut down because choral singing was believed to be a super-spreader activity.  

They had to cancel the 2020 Christmas show we were planning, and when 2021 came around only one chorus was able to perform. The Barbergators put on a solo Christmas show. Since it was their first public performance in almost two years, the Barbergators celebrated by making it a free show and donating all proceeds to Grace Marketplace. 

For this summer show, Barbergators President, Dave Jacobs, asked the show committee if they could raise money for the Helping Hands Clinic. “During the shutdown, we talked a lot about how we wanted to do more than just sing in the community. We wanted to make a difference in our community, to make lives better doing what we love,” Jacobs said. “It’s becoming part of our mission to use our talents to make the community a better place, so we were thrilled that the GHSC members supported the idea as much as we did.”  

Helping Hands Clinic operates out of a building on the First United Methodist Church campus. Helping Hands is a group of volunteer health professionals who have provided free healthcare to the poor and/or homeless for over 30 years, according to their website. On Monday nights, they provide free healthcare and a free meal to clients, all of whom are living under the poverty line.  

During each of two concerts, Jacobs appealed to the audience to donate to Helping Hands Clinic when the concert was over. Concert goers donated over $400 at each show for a total of $865.50. 

On Wednesday afternoon, members of the Barbergators leadership team (Jacobs, music director Mark Slamka, and board members Steve Black and Dick Moyer) presented a check to First United Methodist Church pastor, Beth Snarr, and director of music ministries, Michael Ekbladh.