Event Raises $271K for Auberle Programs

CEO says funds from 20th ‘Voices Carry’ will help McKeesport-based agency fill gaps

By Yousuf Lachhab Ibrahim
The Tube City Almanac
October 08, 2024
Posted in: McKeesport and Region News

(Photo courtesy Auberle, via Facebook)

Two private performances by Scott Blasey sold for $6,000 each during the live auction at Auberle’s 20th Annual Voices Carry event.

Initially, the offer was for just one performance, and the bidding began below $1,000, but Blasey agreed to a second performance for the second bidder in the spur of the moment.

The event brought in 324 attendees, all of whom witnessed performances of 1960s classics by Ashley Marina, Kelsey Friday, Jeff Schmutz, Blazey and a dozen others.

The Western Pennsylvania-based human resources agency raised over $271,000 in unrestricted funds at this event, surpassing last year’s event by just under $50,000.

Jacqueline Ziemianski, director of development at Auberle said that the budget for both last year’s event and this year’s event were the same. “We have a really good ROI because all the performers volunteer. That significantly helps us.”

Auberle communications coordinator Christina Newmyer said that organizing such an event is “definitely a collaborative effort.”

“We have volunteers, a lot of them from Huntington Bank, one of our major sponsors,” Newmyer said. “They help a lot on the day. But even leading up to the event, those committees and those committee chairs really put a lot of a lot of work into it throughout the year.”

The instrumentals were performed by guitarist and singer Rick Witkowski and his band, which included a horn section. “I was appointed music director (of the Auberle Voices Carry event) 19 years ago for Randy Baumann,” WDVE-FM morning show host, Witkowski said.

“I find players that fit the mould,” he said. “That band is a conglomeration of players from other bands. We play together in that configuration for that event.”

Ziemianski said that planning for this event began in April. According to her, the biggest factor contributing to the massive increase in funds this year were sponsorships, specifically the five new sponsorships the nonprofit acquired this year.

“We did have an increase in ticket sales.” She said. “I'm hoping for a similar increase for next year, because I've been to a lot of events throughout my career in community relations, and I think that this is really… A unique event.”

She has also said that the date for the next Voices Carry event has already been set for Oct. 7, 2025.

On the importance of unrestricted funds, Auberle CEO John Lydon said, “It allows you the flexibility… It allows us to fill those gaps as needed, to allow the organization to excel. That's why this Voices Carry event is so important to our success, and particularly to our quality, because it gives us that freedom to put [the money] where it will make the most difference.”

An acoustic guitar signed by all the performers at the event went for $450 at the live auction. At the silent auction, attendees bid on Pittsburgh sports memorabilia and game tickets through text messages. According to Christina Newmyer, a golf outing for four people went for $1,000, and, “some Pirates tickets went for $500.”

Rick Witkowski has said that, for the performances, he learns the songs by ear and then rehearses them only once, the night before the event.

For most of that Tuesday night, Witkowski played a white, 1994 40th Anniversary Stratocaster, but he also pulled out a rare, Italian-made Vox Mark XII for two Beatles songs, “Eight Days a Week” and “Hard Day’s Night.”

Yousuf Lachhab Ibrahim is a freelance writer from Pittsburgh and a recent Penn State University graduate. He won a Golden Quill award for his work at the Penn State Greater Allegheny Gazette.

Originally published October 08, 2024.

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