SALT LAKE CITY — It’s happening again, another big concert at The Complex in Salt Lake City to help raise money for Title I schools in Utah.
It’s a collaboration between The Complex and the Coach Ron McBride Foundation. For the second consecutive year, a sold-out concert is expected to raise about $100,000 for Coach Mac’s foundation. That money will be distributed to nearly 30 Title I schools throughout Utah.
It helps fund after-school programs for kids who might otherwise have nowhere to go and nothing to do when the school day ends. “Without this, I’d probably be laying on my bed right now not doing anything to be honest with you,” stated Bentley, a ninth grader at Hillcrest Junior High. “But when you come to the after school, you get to make new friends and see different people you may never have met before.”
Social studies teacher Gabe Smith helps run the after-school program at Hillcrest Junior High. According to Smith, the program at their school serves 70 to 100 kids per day, "We have over 300 signed up on a daily basis, we do it from the beginning of the year, all the way to the end of the year.”
The after-school program is funded mainly by a federal grant. But that money could now be in jeopardy due to federal budget cuts, and donations they get from the Coach Mac foundation are even more critical, according to Gabe Smith. “We have large refugee population, a very large low-income population. Almost 50% of our entire population is served with free and reduced lunches, and a lot of them come from an economically disadvantage household.”
After retiring from coaching the University of Utah football team, Ron McBride wanted to find a way to give back to this community. He started his foundation about a decade ago. “It’s fun to see all these people giving their time, and kids enjoying what they’re doing,” stated Coach McBride.
The foundation got a huge boost last year when Coach Mac met the owner of The Complex, Gabe Elstien. Gabe was able to get Ryan Bingham to waive his fee and perform what turned out to be a sold-out show, raising tens of thousands for the foundation.
This year, the artist is Ella Langley, recently named country music's new artist of the year. Her performance on Thursday will raise even more money for the foundation. Coach Mac says it’s all about the kids: “Thankfully, we have a lot of people in this community that care about our young people, and they’re willing to support this project.”
The Ella Langley concert was originally scheduled to be indoors. But with her growing popularity and demand for tickets, organizers decided it would be an outdoor event in the parking lot of the complex.
It is a sold out, nearly 4,000 tickets sold, and all the money raised is going to the Coach Ron McBride Foundation, helping fund after-school programs at Title I schools throughout Utah.
