By Kelly Yates
PERFORMERS belted out the tunes and busted eye catching dance moves to raise around $8000 at the Casey Cares fundraising bushfire benefit concert.
Organiser councillor Wayne Smith told the News the event, which was held at Hillcrest Christian College in Clyde North on Saturday 4 April, attracted more than 3000 people.
Cr Smith said the crowds were entertained by around 850 performers including singers, dancers, bands, choirs and musicians aged from five to 75 years.
Neighbours television star Matthew Werkmeister joined Cr Smith as the master of ceremonies.
Entry was by donation, with Cr Smith saying guests were encouraged to only donate what they could afford.
All proceeds from the event go towards the Mayoral Charity Fund for distribution to support and resource the CFA in Casey and other local emergency services organisations.
Emergency services including the St John Ambulance, police, SES volunteers and the CFA attended the event. Australian Idol top 10 finalist Sophie Paterson wowed audiences, while other local singers such as Jessica-Jade Bruce and Chris Sebastian also rocked the stages.
“All of the performers donated their time. No one got paid,” Cr Smith said.
“The only money we laid out was for some carpet and fencing, apart from that everything else was donated,” he said.
Cr Smith said the community jumped on board with the event as it was for a good cause.
The Rotary Club of Narre Warren and the Lions Club of Cranbourne ran a joint sausage sizzle on the day, with both clubs donating food for the volunteers.
Cr Smith said the day’s highlights included Kambrya College student Adrian Harper-Gomm showing a moving power point presentation about the victims of the Black Saturday fires, which was featured in the News a month ago, and 17-year-old Narre Warren South singer Samantha singing a version of hero with representatives from the CFA, SES, police and St John Ambulance accompanying the performer on stage.
“The general vibe on the day was fantastic. We all went home exhausted,” Cr Smith said.
