Music for a Cause: Second Annual Benefit Event

My name is Seojin Ha, and I am a junior at Sunset High School.

Even though the COVID-19 era has come to an end, we are still seeing people impacted by the consequences of the pandemic. Many families are experiencing housing challenges due to the increased costs and less stable job opportunities. Along with the parents searching for reliable income, the children in the family are constantly missing school due to the housing instability. I have witnessed many of my friends struggling to keep up with schoolwork when they fail to attend classes. People have worked hard to improve this situation in many ways, but these challenging situations continue to exist.

Two years ago, I was looking for an opportunity to help these kinds of students. After scouring the web, I found a support program that matched my priorities of supporting students who experience housing challenges: the McKinney-Vento Program.

The Beaverton School District McKinney-Vento Program protects the educational rights of students experiencing housing instability. The program has served over 1,300 students who are experiencing housing instability this school year and has one of the highest densities of homeless students in all of Oregon. Despite their continuous support, the program reported that the number of unstably housed students increased by 20% this year.

After connecting with our district’s McKinney-Vento Program and discussing it with their team, I found an opportunity to help these students. I could donate things that the students needed, such as hygiene products. I always took something small, like shampoo, for granted, but after talking with the McKinney-Vento team, I realized that even small donations could be extremely helpful. Although my personal contribution may not be large, I believe that it could give a feeling of support.

Last year, I asked my musician friends to volunteer at our first benefit concert in January of 2024. As a symbol of support, we would perform pieces to raise awareness and gather donations. In the end, we delivered various supplies to more than 450 students. This may not be big enough to resolve the problem immediately, but I hope that this event can be an example for others to contribute as well.

I am trying to contribute again by organizing our second annual benefit concert on Friday, January 31st, 2025 at 6:30 PM, at Mountainside High School Auditorium. Melodies of McKinney-Vento will host a benefit concert and art exhibition supporting the Beaverton School District’s McKinney-Vento Program. Local young musicians and artists will come together to show their support for these students. All donations of this event will be used to support the needs of students served by the Beaverton School District McKinney-Vento team.

It would be greatly appreciated if you could donate to help the McKinney-Vento Program. Any amount of money for essential hygiene items will impact these students’ lives.

Thank you to all the people who made this event possible:

Yunjun Choi (Springville Elementary School), Jeremy Kang (Springville Elementary), Jason Kang (Springville Elementary), Jane Kang (Stoller Middle School), Alejandro Belgique (Access Academy), Michael Gong (Oregon Episcopal School), Yirhe Ha (Sunset High School), Hannah Baik (Sunset High School), Tahiyah Khan (Sunset High School), Seena Nguyen (Sunset High School), Suyoung Lee (Sunset High School), Alexis Zou (Lake Oswego High School), Eden Choi (Lake Oswego High School), Hansen Berrett (West Linn High School), Haruka Sakiyama (West Linn High School), Jimin Lee(Lincoln High School), Paul Brown (Gladstone High School), Kyra Hammon (Portland State University), Eadric Li(Oregon State University), Ms. Jisook Kim, and Ms. Shinmyung Rho.

Sincerely,

Seojin Ha