{"id":8283,"date":"2024-04-16T09:06:27","date_gmt":"2024-04-16T13:06:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/panl\/?p=8283"},"modified":"2024-04-22T10:51:13","modified_gmt":"2024-04-22T14:51:13","slug":"music-videos-from-shepherds-of-good-hope-raise-awareness-funds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/panl\/2024\/music-videos-from-shepherds-of-good-hope-raise-awareness-funds\/","title":{"rendered":"Lean On Me: Shepherds’ Music Raises Hope & Funds"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"David Gourlay<\/a>, CEO of the Shepherds of Good Hope Foundation<\/a>, which supports the work of Ottawa-based Shepherds of Good Hope through ethical fundraising, spoke to PANL Perspectives<\/em> about a successful series of music-video projects that raised awareness and funds for people facing homelessness.<\/p>\n

Question: These music videos<\/a> are unique, powerful and beautiful. What’s the story behind them?<\/h2>\n
\"David

David Gourlay<\/p><\/div>\n

David Gourlay<\/strong>: I started at Shepherds of Good Hope Foundation in April 2020, so it was during the pandemic. We had to significantly pivot in how we engaged community members, potential donors, fundraisers, everyone. This was the time to tap into curiosity and imagination. How would we get the word out to support our good work, to support individuals in our community who are homeless? We have a small team of seven people, and we had to reimagine fundraising and philanthropy.<\/p>\n

I’m a huge music fan. One night, I was watching online music videos, and I saw a song from an organization, Playing for Change<\/a>, which re-imagines and re-produces familiar songs by travelling the world and capturing different musicians, instruments and rhythms to create beautiful compilations of great songs. I heard an incredible version of Robert Johnson’s Walking Blues<\/em><\/a> — and it triggered me. I said, “We should do this in Ottawa.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

We contacted a number of musicians, and chose the song Here Comes the Sun<\/em><\/a>, by The Beatles, because everyone knows that song and because it’s about hope, optimism, opportunity — things you need if you’re living on the street during an Ottawa winter.<\/p>\n

Q: Did the musicians volunteer their time? How did that work?<\/h2>\n
\"Kathleen

Kathleen Edwards appears in “Here Comes the Sun,” at Quitters, a landmark cafe in Stittsville.<\/p><\/div>\n

Gourlay<\/strong>: I worked with a series of incredible local musicians who put their hearts and souls into their respective pieces. They played outdoors, at landmarks in the Ottawa-Gatineau region. We put Angelique Francis<\/a> near the Beaver Pond, in Kanata. We put Theland Kicknosway<\/a> at the Pimisi Light Rail Train Station, in LeBreton Flats. We put Davis Dewan on Abbey Road, in Alta Vista, because of course, Here Comes the Sun<\/em> first appeared on The Beatles’ Abbey Road album. JW-Jones<\/a>, who helped put together the entire production, had a musical bit on the Flora Footbridge, in the Glebe.<\/p>\n

We wanted to support the musicians, so we offered compensation. We never approached them assuming they were going to volunteer their time. It was Covid, so concert halls and live music had stopped. Musicians struggled \u2014 and they’re still struggling. Not all of the musicians accepted compensation, but we always offered it. The majority accepted.<\/p>\n

Q: How do you measure success with these videos?<\/h2>\n
\""Stand<\/a>

“Stand By Me” was the second music video created by Ottawa musicians, including singer Alanna Sterling, for Shepherds of Good Hope. Click photo to hear the song on YouTube.<\/p><\/div>\n

Gourlay<\/strong>: Success was based on community response and feedback. Also, we raised money on Here Comes the Sun<\/em>, which we launched as part of a virtual event in June of 2021. The video went viral, thanks in part to Alanis Morissette<\/a>, who had volunteered for us when she was a teenager and who posted about the song on social media.<\/p>\n

And the feedback we got from many community members, and from around the world, was, “What a great thing to do \u2014 to lift up our spirits and to give us a few minutes of something positive.” We wanted the public to enjoy their community and recognize certain musicians and sites in their city — like Hardeep Buckshi<\/a> playing the sitar at the Museum of History, with Parliament in the background. These were really cool impressions of our community.<\/p>\n

After that, we did the song Stand By Me<\/em><\/a>, by Ben E. King, when the pandemic, due to Omicron, got severe for Shepherds of Good Hope — when it devastated our volunteers and staffing in early 2022.<\/p>\n

The song after that was Lean On Me<\/em>, which was positive and depicted the value of community members helping one another. Each of our songs speaks to the values of our organization: empathy, compassion, community, belonging, acceptance, hope, optimism.<\/p>\n