By KATE DANIEL
Whidbey News Group
Seattle Women’s Chorus will sing odes to women of the silver screen during a fundraising event for individuals in crisis.
The concert, “Reel Women,” will feature songs in honor of some of the “most famous and scintillating” mavens of the movie industry from the beginning of film cinema to the modern era.
The concert, 3 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 15 at South Whidbey High School, is a benefit for Citizens Against Domestic Violence and Sexual Abuse, or CADA. Tickets are $25.
Flying House Productions, the organization that is home to both the Seattle Men’s Chorus and the Seattle Women’s Chorus, is composed of 650 singers and more than 50 volunteers and associate members.
The women’s and men’s choruses have performed benefits for CADA in the past.
CADA, located in Oak Harbor, offers services to individuals who are experiencing trauma from domestic or sexual abuses.
Services include a crisis shelter for women and children, counseling services, referrals to treatment programs and social services, and prevention and outreach efforts.
Cynde Robinson, executive director of CADA, said that the center serves about 20 individuals a week. It is the only one of its kind in Island County, and is often pressed for resources. Often, she said, they are forced to send individuals to shelters in nearby areas such as Marysville, Mount Vernon or even King County due to a lack of space for women and children and lack of a crisis shelter for men in the area.
Last year’s Seattle Men’s Chorus concert generated $18,000 for CADA.
This year, Robinson said the goal is to raise between $10,000 to $12,000.
“It is a major fundraiser for us each year,” said Jan Pickard, vice president of CADA and mental health counselor. “We’re very fortunate. We cherish that relationship; we’re very proud to produce concerts on the island of that calibre.”
Education is essential to CADA’s mission, said Pickard and Robinson.
The majority of funds raised will go towards the organization’s prevention, education and outreach programs. These programs do not receive government funding and get comparatively little from donors.
There are prevention specialists, social workers and counselors in each school district, Pickard said. This is not a mandated resource, she said, but one which is provided through domestic violence organizations throughout the state.
The “Use Your Words” campaign in elementary schools is one example of the prevention programs CADA sponsors. The campaign teaches children to use their words to communicate feelings, rather than hitting or otherwise acting out against others.
At the middle and high school levels, there are healthy relationship and anti-bullying classes to educate students about subjects such as communication and respect.
Robinson said that CADA assists individuals in making decisions to better their lives.
“It’s not necessarily always leaving an abusive relationship, but working with somebody to find what is their vision of what they want their lives to look like and helping them make those connections,” said Robinson.
Prior to working at CADA, Robinson had been employed overseas for 30 years, working in maternal and child health and domestic and sexual abuse services in nine different countries.
Tickets for “Reel Women” are available for purchase at Wind and Tide Books in Oak Harbor, the CADA office in Oak Harbor and bayleaf in Coupeville.
