<-- st. xavier's gymnasium was transformed into a world-class music venue!On May 3rd, 2008 we launched the Just Because Initiative with a bang! Thanks to the impressive efforts of the St. Xavier HS student council in Cincinnati, Ohio, the concert was a huge success, with over 400 students in attendance and $2000 raised!
None of this would have been possible without the vision and dedication of Dan Lewis, St. Xavier HS student body president for the '07-'08 school year. Despite facing a number of obstacles to making this event happen, Dan stepped up and met the challenges with exceptional poise and determination.
<- dan lewis, st. x student body president Dan personally had quite a stake in seeing this concert through. In the Summer of 2007, Dan visited the village of Durán, a small town in western Ecuador. The experience seemed to have left him inspired, so much that he suggested we donate the proceeds of the concert to the various villagers he met. Dan mentioned a farmer who dreamed of starting his own market but lacked the necessary funding.
<-- the flyer used to promote the concertDan, along with the rest of the St. Xavier student council, learned a lot about the hassles of putting a successful event together. Between concerns of crowd control, electricity capacity, and sound arrangements, Dan called me a number of times expressing grave doubts that we could pull the concert off. But we worked through those various roadblocks (including the last-minute problem of a lack of chaperones), and the concert was a wild success. These guys showed a lot of leadership and heart, and in the end we were able to create social good from nothing except music, passion, and the dedication of these students. Dan will be a freshman this fall at Marquette University in Milwaukee, and we have no doubt that he will go on to do great things. Congratulations!
