Mission IS Possible!
On April 27th, we hosted our annual fund-raising Gala event. Titled “Mission IS Possible” (a play on words from Mission Impossible), it was held in downtown Indianapolis and nearly 200 people came dressed up in black-tie (ish) attire for our (loosely) spy-movie themed event.
It was our first event of this scale and complexity and helped cast vision for our work, celebrate the wins, and raised $84,350 towards our mission. We’re still celebrating how the Lord met us in our efforts and are already looking forward to 2025’s Gala!
(One of the things we prepared for our Gala was an Impact Report covering our work in 2023, if you’d like to see what our last year of ministry was like!)
“Two Eight really brought this community together”
Because of the funds raised at the Gala, we were able to take the Two Eight band, along with our friend and surprise guest Josh Kaufman (who you may remember as the winner of Season 6 of NBC’s The Voice!) to serve the very next weekend in Columbus, Indiana. The event was a picnic and fundraiser for the Off-Drug Support Group, run by our friend Vicki Axsom (known as ‘Aunt Vicki’ to everyone in the community.)
From a small office in a community center owned by the Salvation Army, Aunt Vicki runs the group and brings advocacy and a healthy dose of Jesus to people in recovery, and to those who are still struggling with active addiction. She’s EXACTLY the kind of people we love to partner with! Bringing the full band and a surprise guest artist may seem like overkill for a local recovery movement, but we’ve seen again and again how our events can create connections and build momentum for these groups that lasts LONG after the music stops.
After working with her on their event last year, she told us “Two Eight really brought this community together”. Vicki is in the photo above in the lower left with Josh Kaufman, and her motto for her work with the group is “Let us hold your umbrella while you walk through your storm.” Our ongoing partnership helps her continue to do just that.
We’re grateful, as always, that you are standing with us in our work to create music and moments that move people in a host of ways –
– out of isolation
– into recovery
– to life change
– into their calling
…but ultimately, towards Jesus.