Motown comes to Melbourne as Evans Center holds winter fundraiser
Depending on the time, “BINGO!” might be the word of choice heard at the Evans Center on Wednesday mornings.
“We love ourselves a good bingo game,” said Mary Baker, a longtime South Melbourne resident. She organizes the Seniors Fun Spot group that regularly meets at Evans, a community center that opened in 2019 to bolster services, including a grocery store and medical appointments, for the neighborhood of Powell Subdivision and Driskell Heights.
Every week, the group engages in games and other activities, including workshops geared toward older residents on such topics as diabetes prevention and financial planning, along with a free Evans Market deli breakfast sponsored by the Sunshine Health Foundation. During the summer, the center opens its doors to feed dozens of children who otherwise might not have a meal.
Now, the center is asking for the greater Brevard community’s help by supporting their Motown “Magic Moments” Winter Concert, their main fundraiser for the year. Funds from the concert will help the center, with its Florida-style architecture, maintain programs serving youth, older residents and those with other needs, center officials say.
The concert kicks off at 7 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 8, at the Florida Institute of Technology's Gleason Performing Arts Center, 150 W. University Blvd., Melbourne. Tickets start at $35 and can be purchased online at https://www.evanscenter.org/motown or in person at the center, located at 1361 Florida Ave NE, Palm Bay.
Concertgoers will experience an evening of buoyant Motown from the catalog of Marvin Gaye and classic R&B hits mixed in with popular holiday standards like "This Christmas" from Donny Hathaway and "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus." The songs, featuring a live band, will be performed by vocalists Theo Peoples, Joe Coleman and Joe Blunt, all former lead singers of such groups as the Temptations, Four Tops and The Drifters. Carl Lewis, a local, renowned saxophonist, will open the concert.
“We are so excited for this year’s event. It’ll be extra special since we’ll be bringing the winter concert to Florida Tech for the first time,” said Susan Phillips-Hardison, center director.
“Guests will enjoy an evening of old-school Motown music and holiday melodies and have an opportunity to sample food from Evans Market catering."
The Evans Market - which includes a hot foods deli and fresh produce - averages about 25,000 customers annually, the majority of shoppers directly from the surrounding, working-class neighborhood. An on-site clinic is operated through Evans’ partnership with Brevard Health Alliance.
“This is a mix of retirees, seniors and single-parent families, as well as extended generational families who come to Evans for easily accessible hot meals and everyday groceries,” Phillips-Hardison said.
“In addition, many members of our Evans community live paycheck to paycheck and face transportation challenges. Evans provides the only walkable access to a community center, grocery store, and health clinic, all in one location."
Lynn Brockwell-Carey, executive director of Neighbor Up Brevard, a Melbourne-based nonprofit organization that partners with Evans, said the Motown “Magic Moments” concert is a fantastic event for all ages.
“Also, 100 percent of the concert’s proceeds go directly to Evans Center to help fund the Evans Community Market as well as educational and community programs,” Brockwell-Carey said.
For information on the Evans Center: www.evanscenter.org. For information on the benefit concert: Susan Phillips-Hardison at 321- 216-6909 or Lynn Brockwell-Carey at 321-591-6683.
J.D. Gallop is a Criminal Justice/Breaking News Reporter at FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Gallop at 321-917-4641 or jgallop@floridatoday.com. Twitter: @JDGallop.
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This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Melbourne community center to fund activities with special Motown Revue
