Three Performances Planned of Mrs. Edison's Hymn Sing

Jan. 17, 2012 - PRLog -- Celebrate the Edison Festival of Light and help feed the hungry by attending  Mrs. Edison’s Hymn Sing  Tuesday, Feb. 7, at The First Presbyterian Church in downtown Fort Myers at the corner of Second Street and Lee Street.                
   It’s the 23rd year of the hymn sing, which is organized and sponsored by the Galloway Family of Dealerships.  Because of the overwhelming popularity of the event, three performances are planned at 1 p.m., 4 p.m. and 7 p.m.   The doors will open 30 minutes prior to each performance.   
Admission is free, but because of the increased need for food for the hungry, organizers are requesting that those who attend bring cans of non-perishable food and a voluntary cash donation, if possible, to benefit the Everyday Marketplace & Café (also known as The Soup Kitchen) of CCMI (Community Cooperative Ministries, Inc.)  
   “Ladies and gentlemen, we desperately need your help.  The need for food is absolutely critical this year and seems to be ongoing for the near future.  Love your fellow neighbor. Attempt to do what God would do and want you to do.  Show me a man or woman who has not needed a helping hand in his or her life!” said organizer Sam Galloway, Jr.  
   “Rising unemployment and the downturn in our local economy have caused many of our neighbors to ask for food to feed their families for the first time in their lives,” said Rev. Paul deJong of First Presbyterian Church. “We can’t allow our neighbors and friends to be hungry.  Please – we need our community to get together and help with all the canned goods they can.”  
   Galloway, who originated the hymn sing in 1989, said he wanted to do something to honor Mrs. Mina Edison during the Edison Festival celebration.
   “We hear a great deal about the wonderful work of Thomas Alva Edison, but we don’t do a lot to honor his wife who also volunteered a great deal of her time and talent to making Fort Myers what it is today.  This hymn sing is a way to honor her good work too,” Galloway said.
   This year’s event will feature the First Presbyterian Sanctuary Choir and many other singers, including members of the Mastersingers, Guest Soloists, along with a Piano-Organ Combination.
   Mrs. Edison’s Hymn Sing is the first of three hymn sings sponsored annually by the Galloway Family of Dealerships.  The other two are A Midsummer Night’s Sing in July and the very popular Holiday Carol Sing in December.  All three events benefit CCMI, which was started by First Presbyterian Church in 1984 to help alleviate hunger and suffering in Lee County.
   More than 3,500 pounds of canned goods were donated at last year’s Mrs. Edison’s Hymn Sing to benefit CCMI.  The food was immediately distributed to those in need.
CCMI is an innovative nonprofit 501 (c) (3) organization made up of social service entrepreneurs fighting to end homelessness and hunger in our community. The agency provides more than 14,000 meals each month through their Everyday Café and Marketplace and Home Delivered Meals programs. CCMI also educates 40 children in their Community Montessori, offers homeless and comprehensive case management services through the Cape Coral United Way Resource House, oversees an emergency mobile food pantry and supplies weekend backpacks full of food to more than 1,500 children each school year.
   For more information or directions to the church, call 334-2261 or visit www.fpcfortmyers.org.

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