Kemptville Male Choir donates $3,300 to local youth centre after holiday concert
The spirit of giving during the holiday season is still resonating in Kemptville, thanks to a generous donation from the Kemptville Male Choir to the Kemptville Youth Centre (KYC).
Proceeds from the choir’s ‘Merry and Bright’ Christmas concert in November 2025 totalled $3,300, which was donated to the local Youth Centre to support its ongoing programs and services for the communities youngest residents.
“A lot of the members of our choir are quite old compared with the youth of today, and a lot of us are grandparents, and we thought it was a good opportunity to support the youth in our community,” said John Baldwin, a representative of the Kemptville Male Choir. “They are the ones that are going to be following us up some day, and hopefully, whatever they can glean from the Youth Club would be very impactful. The more activities they can get involved with, the better.”
The funds were formally presented during a small cheque-giving ceremony held at the Kemptville Youth Centre on January 18, 2026, attended by choir members and youth centre representatives. The donation was received by Operations Manager Roxanne Trumble-Elliston, accompanied by several youth centre members.
In a message shared following the donation, the Kemptville Youth Centre expressed its gratitude to the choir for choosing the organization as its charitable recipient during the holiday season, noting that the contribution will help make a meaningful difference in supporting the youth in the community.
“We like to be regarded as a community support group, because we go to a lot of retirement homes to sing, and so consequently, we do meet the older members of the community, but not so much the younger ones,” Baldwin told Lanarkist. “And this is a way of us being able to perpetuate something good in the community regarding the youth.”
The choir credited the success of the concert to strong community support, thanking the many local businesses that sponsored the event. “We received a lot of sponsors this year, particularly because it was the youth club and a lot of the local businesses are of the same mind,” explained Baldwin. “They want to see the kids in the community have a good fighting chance in the world, right?”
The choir also acknowledged the role of their audience, saying attendance at concerts like ‘Merry and Bright’ allows the group to continue giving back to various causes in the community.