Juneteenth Committee Faces Financial Crunch By Stephanie Claytor This summer, the annual Juneteenth Festival falls on the actual day, Saturday, June 19th. But, that is if the Juneteenth Festival Committee can get over financial hardships it is facing this year. Many of the people that have donated in the past are not donating, and a few major sponsors, such as JP Morgan Chase, have decided not to participate this year. "The money is not available. The sponsors are cutting back, the grants have been cut back," said Billy Denham, the entertainment committee chair of the Juneteenth Festival. "The money is just not here." "We need about 30,000 more dollars in order to make it happen," said Duane Owens, Juneteenth Committee chairman. The committee says it takes about $80,000 to fund the festival every year. Since they are short on funding, they have decided to scale down the entertainment, consolidating all of the acts to one stage. This year, they have planned fundraisers as a grassroots method of raising money. "This is the first year we've had to have fundraisers because a lot of the big companies are not giving donations," said Kitty Rice, Financial Chair of the Juneteenth Committee. "If everyone in the Syracuse community gave $5, we wouldn't have to have all of these fundraisers." Their first fundraiser, the annual Ancestral Recognition Celebration is being held a month earlier this year on May 14th, at 6:30 pm in the Atrium in the City Hall Commons. The committee is selling tickets for $35 and plans on using the proceeds to fund the festival. The celebration includes a soul food dinner and live music provided by AboutTime. Abundant Life Christian Center will be honored with the NIA award for demonstrating outstanding civic leadership. The other fundraisers include: ¢
Juneteenth night at the Burger King on Onondaga Boulevard, on May 11th, from 4-8pm.
20% of purchase will be donated to the Juneteenth planning committee. All of the committee members are volunteers, who spend their time and money to plan and organize the festival. They say it is up to the community to come together to help them fund and run the event. Back in 2008, the same financial hardships occurred when people in the community were not as forth coming with donations. In order to pull off the festival that year, the committee had to host a telethon on the radio, where they raised $18,000 in one day. Some of the other changes this year include shortening the parade, in which the Soul Tigers Marching Band from Brooklyn is expected to be the highlight. The band partners with Tommy Hilfiger to give music lessons to kids after school in Brooklyn. In return, the band models and plays in commercials for tommy.com, the Tommy Hilfiger website. Since the festival will feature one stage this year, the committee is looking for local acts, and trying to find artists and groups that will appeal to all age groups. So far, Brownskin and Ladies of Soul are scheduled to perform. Some of the main attractions returning are the Sankofa Square, the Health Pavilion, the Kids Fun Zone and the Walk-A- Thon. Inside Sankoka Square, festival goers can purchase and make African goods. The Kid's Zone incorporates lessons about African American history. If children want to enter, they have to answer correctly a history question. For the second consecutive year, a young lady from Syracuse will be crowned Miss Juneteenth. "This is a real positive outlet for the family. We want families to come out," said Kitty Rice. In terms of security, the committee says they hire private security guards, and use the help of Syracuse City Police and parent volunteers to patrol the crowds. Along with volunteers in charge of crowd control, the committee says they are looking for about 100 more volunteers of all ages to help put on the festival. |