3rd Annual SMILES FOR HABITAT CONCERT AND FAMILY FESTIVAL
Sunday May 30th, 5-10 pm benefiting North Collin County Habitat for Humanity
In Adriatica behind offices of Dr. Jennifer Buchanan
6595 W. Virginia Pkwy, McKinney 75071
An outdoor community-centered and family-friendly concert and festival will be held in McKinney’s Adriatica, a European style planned development, at the corner of W. Virginia Pkwy. and Stonebridge Dr. The concert will feature Tommy Katona, the Maylee Thomas Band, and headliner, pop and rock star Gavin DeGraw. Emcee for the event will be KLAK’s Johnny B. Festival activities located near the concert will include rock climbing, bounce houses, face painting, obstacle courses and Games2U. Former Nashville singer Christie Taylor, who now lives in McKinney, will kick off the festivities with a powerful rendition of the National Anthem followed by a Memorial Day tribute to our honored veterans including a flyover of WW II era airplanes. The event will conclude with a brilliant fireworks display.
Those attending the outdoor concert are invited to bring lawn chairs and blankets, but coolers will not be allowed. While admission to the concert is free, concessions will be sold during the event with a portion of the proceeds from every sale benefitting Smiles for Habitat and Habitat for Humanity. Cash and credit cards will be accepted. T-shirts will be sold for $10 each, raffle tickets will be sold for $10 each or 3 for $20, and cash donations will also be collected during the concert to benefit both organizations.
Throughout the concert event, raffle winners will be announced for items such as a Darius Rucker autographed guitar, Sugarland autographed guitar, Jonas Brothers autographed book and t-shirt, 2 tickets to the September 4th John Mayer concert at the Superpages.com Center, Rascal Flatts autographed CD, Jeff Gordon autographed die-cast car, Gavin DeGraw autographed CD, a Kindle, an iPod Touch, and much more. Raffle tickets are pre-selling now at Dr. Buchanan’s office but will also be on sale during the concert. Visit www.smilesforhabitat.org for more information.
The Smiles for Habitat concert and festival will celebrate months of hard work by hundreds of volunteers to make the dream of home ownership a reality for one McKinney family. To volunteer before, during, or after the Smiles for Habitat concert, please visit www.smilesforhabitat.org to register. The 2010 Smiles for Habitat concert and festival will benefit the Habitat for Humanity home of Tracy Sawyer and her two sons. The North Collin County Habitat for Humanity has been building homes in McKinney since 1992 and Tracy’s home is the 58th home the organization has built. While Smiles for Habitat will make a monetary donation to the North Collin County Habitat for Humanity specifically for Tracy’s home, Smiles for Habitat also aims to raise awareness about our local affiliate of Habitat for Humanity. For more information about the NCCHFH or to volunteer on a build site, please visit www.ncc-habitat.com.
The Smiles for Habitat concert and festival is made possible by generous donations from local businesses and corporate sponsors such as Simpson Strong Tie, Dr. Jennifer Buchanan, Pogue Construction, Crest Auto Group, Torchmark, Dr. Don Nix, Zimmer Wilson Phillips, Dodie’s Place Sports Grill, KLAK 97.5, Independent Bank, RSC Equipment Rental, Medical Center of McKinney, HGTV, Chili’s Restaurants of McKinney, Print Right, Olive Garden, MediaGrafix, and many more. The mission of Smiles for Habitat is to bring the community together to change the world one family, one home at a time. Smiles for Habitat volunteers organize and staff the free-admission, family friendly concert and festival to benefit the entire community, local and corporate businesses are recognized for their generous donations, and ultimately Smiles for Habitat donates its net proceeds from the concert event to Habitat for Humanity to benefit the home of a local family.
In its first two years, Smiles for Habitat has sponsored the build of two homes, one for Glenda Alons and her children in 2008 and another for Roberto Osornia’s family in 2009. The first two concerts, featuring Chris Cagle in 2008 and Little Big Town in 2009, drew nearly 14,000 fans combined.
Local orthodontist and McKinney Chamber of Commerce Citizen of the Year 2009 Dr. Jennifer Buchanan hopes to increase donations and raise more funds this year. Dr. Buchanan founded Smiles for Habitat in McKinney with the dream of providing local support to McKinney residents who qualify for a Habitat for Humanity home and plans to be able to raise enough through the Smiles for Habitat project in the future to build several homes a year. “What I love most about Smiles for Habitat is the results are tangible. The funds raised make the dream of home ownership a reality.” states Dr. Buchanan.
"We are so excited to be partnering with Habitat to build a home for the Sawyer family. Smiles for Habitat will be a great family event with the festival, live outdoor concert, and fireworks! Combining fun and charity is another way McKinney is "Unique by Nature," comments Dr. Buchanan.
Associated photos of 2009 concert courtesy of Juan Carlos of Entertainment Photography can be found here http://picasaweb.google.com/101072766213789870302/2009ConcertAndFestival?authkey=Gv1sRgCIrVlaef0vbTCw#
The History of a Dream Come True
Dr. Jennifer Buchanan’s orthodontic practice has been in McKinney, Texas for 13 years. In 2001, she began hosting an annual Smiles for Habitat party to benefit the local chapter of Habitat for Humanity. In 2008, Dr. Buchanan took her Smiles for Habitat project to the next level by organizing a free outdoor concert open to the public. Smiles for Habitat has raised over $90,000 for the North Collin County Habitat for Humanity through private contributions and corporate sponsorships for its headlining event, the Smiles for Habitat Concert and Family Festival which is held annually over Memorial Day weekend. Two families are now living their dream of home ownership thanks to Smiles for Habitat.
The Smiles for Habitat Concert and Family Festival features an outdoor concert on the main stage surrounded by a family friendly festival and concludes with a spectacular fireworks display. The festival includes a children’s area, food vendors, a hot air balloon, and a VIP party. The children’s area contains bounce houses, face painting, and child appropriate video games. There is no admission charged for the children’s area as most of the vendors donate their time and services. Local restaurants vie for limited but valuable space at the festival to sell their delights to concert goers. Each food vendor selected to participate in the festival is required to donate at least 20% of their sales back to Smiles for Habitat.
The VIP Party, which takes place inside Dr. Buchanan’s spacious office located directly in front of the concert and outdoor stage, is organized to show appreciation for all Smiles for Habitat local and corporate sponsors. All local and corporate sponsors who donate money, goods, and/or services to Smiles for Habitat are provided with tickets to the VIP party. The number of tickets each sponsor is given depends on the level of their donation. The VIP party is catered by food and beverage vendors who donate their goods and services. In 2009, Smiles for Habitat secured just over 70 local and corporate sponsors, most of whom were Collin County doctors and dentists.
The inaugural Smiles for Habitat Concert and Family Festival in 2008 raised $30,000 to benefit the Habitat for Humanity home of Glenda Alons and her three children. The concert entertained 6,000 people and featured local sensation Maylee Thomas Band and country and western singer Chris Cagle.
The 2009 Smiles for Habitat Concert and Family Festival, featuring the Maylee Thomas Band who returned to open the festivities followed by local sensation Lone Star Attitude and country super stars Little Big Town, drew 8,000 fans and raised $60,000 to benefit the Habitat for Humanity home of McKinney resident Roberto Osornia and his family. The Osornias, who are very grateful for the opportunity provided by Smiles for Habitat to become homeowners, moved into their new home just two months after the concert.
Dr. Buchanan, who was recently named McKinney Chamber of Commerce Citizen of the Year for 2009, founded Smiles for Habitat in McKinney with the vision of providing local support to McKinney residents who qualify for a Habitat for Humanity home. Dr. Buchanan hopes to be able to raise enough through Smiles for Habitat in the future to build several homes a year in the McKinney area. Further, it is Dr. Buchanan’s ultimate goal to bring Smiles for Habitat to several cities nationwide in order help hundreds realize their dream of home ownership.
Smiles for Habitat continues to make dreams come true for McKinney families aspiring to build their first home allowing them along with Dr. Buchanan, her Planning Committee, and local sponsors to… smile.
Build a Home, Create a Smile