I love you: a letter from a visionary
To every person who played a part in making The 21 Days of Love Kickoff Benefit Concert what it was; I am forever grateful and undoubtedly blessed to have been supported by you. My team and I created 30 thank you cards, but we forgot to give them out last night; here is the digital version.
To my family, friends, coworkers, residents, classmates, and everyone else who came out: your presence was and still is greatly appreciated. My heart is overflowing with joy as I realize how blessed I am to be surrounded by such wonderful people. You all truly made last night one for the books. Although it wasn’t about me, seeing so many people support my vision meant the world. Thank you for being interactive with and supportive of all of the artists, and for your kind words about the event in general. Your comments, suggestions and congratulations are duly noted. You have all been such a huge inspiration to me for what is to come from the 21 Days of Love Campaign and I am super excited. I hope to see you at remaining events.
To the team: Y’all. Did. That. There is no possible way I could have done this without you; all of you were extremely influential in making the event what it was. Your support came in so many ways and all of them were much needed. Lorraine, Felicia, Tiffany, Shanica, Amber, Zoe, Sarah, Sandra, Michelle, Sylvester, Keona: thank you! For your money, your cars, your kind words, your hugs, your hard work and your patience. You are all beautiful people.
To the caterer: Kyle Garrett. Sir, you are AMAZING. The food was just as fancy as you are and I’m glad I relinquished control and let you do your thing. I only got to taste the ricotta cheese hors d’oeuvre, but I heard wonderful things about everything else. Thank you! Your professionalism and attention to detail are going to and have already allowed you to thrive in places some people only dream of, but it is your heart that will take you there. I cannot wait to see what God has in store for you, and I am watching intently. January 30th is the deadline, and if you don’t do it, I will do it for you.
To the bartender and bar maid; thank you for being so professional and kind. I didn’t get to try the electric lemonade, but I heard great reviews. Thank you Taylor and Neil for knowing your stuff and being so professional; I appreciated your contract and your honesty. Thank you for my Moscato, I enjoyed it thoroughly. To Neil, thank you for staying around to clean up, that was so kind. To Taylor, you giving away your tips to Trevor was the most heart warming moment of the entire evening; no one knew that was in the works but I am so thankful for what God did through you.
To the band and DJ: Y’all are so gifted. Erica, DaJuan, Christopher, Jahlil, I’m sure each of you knows this but it is simply amazing to watch people who are so skilled at their craft. You guys could have been at many other gigs, but I thank you for being with me last night. Thank you for being so adaptable; many things would not have happened save for your flexibility. Thank you thank you thank you!
To the mistress of ceremonies, Syreeta: You were phenomenal; you are GREAT at what you do. I love your stage presence and your warm and kind spirit. Thank you for putting your own spin onto everything and keeping everything flowing, I am so honored that you were able to be a part. You truly took us where we needed to go and helped us to hone in on the most important moments.
To the photographers: You guys were so professional in all that you did, obviously at this point I can't comment on your work but I can definitely say I believe the pictures will be amazing. From the intial booking request to the night of the event, you have operated in excellence and I truly truly commend you both and am inspired by you. Alyssia and Nnenna, thank you so much.
To the artists: wow. You are all so talented, I am so glad you were able to come last night. Thank you for teaching us and sharing your heart with us in whatever way you did. From drawing, to singing, to spoken word, to testimony, thank you for being part of this event; you were awesome. I truly thank you for bringing your best and creating a positive atmosphere. Your stories told through your art took our minds to new dimensions; you presented us with tricky and difficult life situations and made them beautiful.
*Thank you to the live painter, who had an emergency and could not come, but brought her work for display; that was such an unselfish act.
To the vendor: Thank you for coming and vending your merchandise, and thank you so kindly for your donation. I love your brand and the mission thereof, and am so happy that someone took "love" and made it more "likable". I heard you say that people always think of love as a really soft and mushy thing, and you wanted them to know that you can be strong and powerful and still love. That is very beautiful. I support LoVe.BEast and I encourage everyone else to.
Above all, I thank God for planting this vision and burden within me, and putting me in a space with people who could and would help bring it to life. Thank you all so much for your compliments and recognition, and I admit they have truly touched my heart, but I am simply yielding to Him. I look forward to seeing you at the future events, the next being the Educational Workshop, until then, peace. <3
Love,
Lorae
To follow the campaign’s progress, please visit 21daysoflove.org and follow us on Instagram @twentyonedaysoflove.
We will be writing again soon.