Praise Report – HST got 24 NEW mics delivered today!!

Dear 25th Year HST Families,
With all the stress and worry, I think it is just like God to give us a wonderful praise report to remind us of His meticulous care. So, let me tell you the tale of HST’s replacement microphones.
As you know, we held a major fundraising campaign this year to replace our 16 oldest microphones. We estimated that we needed to raise $15,000 above the annual fundraising goal of $20,000 (so a total of $35,000). To help reach this challenging goal we also applied for a $5000 grant from a local Foundation that I felt we were very good candidates for.
So, how did the fundraising go? At first, not great. Our Car Wash total and Silent Auction total were less than previous years and there weren’t many donations in the fall. One of our students even set up a GoFundMe page, but it wasn’t bringing in much. Then in December I suspected that we did not get the grant because we had not been notified. I was quite discouraged but I decided to call the Foundation and they told me that all their grants had gone to homeless and hunger needs. That immediately put our problems in perspective, so I went back to God and said, “God if you want us to have these mics, you will figure out a way to fund them.” Within the hour, I got an email from Anthony Grancagnolo who set up the GoFundMe page, saying that we had received a $5000 anonymous donation! All I could do is cry because it was so clear that God was saying, “I’ve got this. I’ve always taken care of HST and I’m not going to stop now.”
After that, donations just seemed to come rolling in. We hit our goal and then surpassed it (by just about the same amount as our higher copyright and sets/props/costume costs). So, things were looking up – until we found out that our worst fear had happened. The government IS taking more band-width out of public domain and our 8 newer microphones are in the bandwidth that is now illegal to use. So we now need to buy *24* microphones instead of 16. Discouraging – yes – until we found out that the manufacturer will give us $100 a piece for each of our microphones in the illegal bandwidth. That could mean getting $2400 back – which mostly covers the cost of those extra 8 mics! Add to this the fact that Music and Arts gave us their wholesale price…and the total cost was LESS than $15,000 for *24* new microphones!!
So, as I sit here praying about the fact that it is going to take a bit of miracle for us to get to perform our shows, I keep looking at this stack of new microphones to remind myself that God’s got this. Blessings, Marilyn