The Edmonton Chapter of the United Way is determined to lift people out of poverty and it has partnered with St. Albert’s PlanIt Sound to get the word out.
Despite the incredible scope of poverty, both agencies believe it is solvable and are focusing their energies on a campaign to collect as many stories of hardship and adversity as possible.
They have put out a call to all singers, rappers and spoken word artists to get the creative juices flowing and become the next “My United Way Voice.”
It’s simple. The United Way wants artists to sing an original catchy hook, spit some rhymes or drop an inspirational spoken word verse on some aspect of poverty. Send in a self-produced video of the performance and if it meets all the criteria, it will be posted on YouTube.
Mike Kluttig, United Way vice president of community engagement, has seen first hand the drivers of poverty – joblessness, lack of education, addictions, gang violence, cultural barriers, language barriers and mental illness. And these issues just cover the surface.
He cited statistics that in the capital region, 120,000 people live below the poverty line. Of that number, 37,000 are children – a figure many believe is too high for the richest province in Canada.
“What we found in the past that had great success was a video using music to tell a story. It inspired and motivated people,” said Kluttig.
Kluttig worked in past years with R.J. Cui and Rowena Cui, the husband-wife founders of PlanIt Sound. Together they produced two very successful videos: the hip hop video Change Starts Here which garnered an impressive 30,000 YouTube hits, and United We’re Strong, which starred two St. Albert artists – Tupelo Honey frontman Dan Davidson and acoustic pop roots singer Yasmeen Najmeddine.
“In this video we wanted to take a more community-wide approach and get the support of the community to address the problem,” Kluttig elaborated.
The deadline for video submission is Friday, Nov. 21. Once submissions are in, the Cuis and Kluttig will review them and select the top five finalists.
Story videos will be posted online on Nov. 28. Although all videos that meet the rules are posted, the public will vote on the top five only. Voting closes on Jan. 19, 2015.
The winner receives a prize valued at $5,000 that includes five hours of recording time and an opportunity to perform in front of 700 community leaders on March 5.
The Cuis, who are a very community committed couple, have a passion for creative marketing, music and video production. They have offered their talents to produce a slick, sophisticated video of the winner’s entry.
“We have a wide variety of voices and such a deep pool of talent in our community. Everyone has a story to tell and we at PlainIt Sound would like to help tell it in a compelling and dynamic way,” said Rowena Cui.
“We’re hoping that through these stories, the greater community can be inspired.”
She adds that the video can have a “grass roots, gritty feel. So you don’t need a lot of expensive equipment. You can shoot it on your iPhone or Android or the family camcorder.”
PlanIt Sound’s ongoing collaboration with United Way signals that their musical venture is making people sit up and take notice.
“I’m so stoked. R.J. and I, we have the easy job. We sit back and be inspired. We hear their words and watch their artistry come to life. It’s artistry pouring from the heart and soul out to the community. For us to be the vessel to tell the story of poverty and its possibilities is more than enough,” said Rowena in closing.
Submit to www.myunitedwayvoice.ca.
My United Way Voice timeline is:<br />Oct. 2: Contest launch<br />Nov. 28: Top five finalists are announced and public voting opens<br />Jan 19: Voting closes<br />March 5: Winner is announced and performs a professionally produced version of the submission
