Salvation Army raises money for social services with music event

A near-capacity crowd at the Wayne Theatre helped ring in a new Salvation Army of Waynesboro fundraiser Tuesday night.

The Jimmy O Band and The Boogie Kings provided the entertainment for the Need Knows No Season event, which raised money for social services programs provided by the Salvation Army.

Jimmy Overton, the frontman for the Jimmy O Band, was the driving force behind the event, which came about on a cold December night at a Salvation Army kettle with Capt. Jason Perdieu, who was in the middle of a 48-hour stretch ringing the bell to raise money in the Christmas season.

“We talked for a little bit about doing a benefit concert, and it grew and grew and grew,” said Perdieu.

For Overton, the effort is a bit of paying it forward. The Overton family’s contributions to the Salvation Army spans four generations, from his grandfather to his father, a brother and a niece.

Overton, an accomplished musician, began his career as a performer as a young child entertaining at the Salvation Army.

“I owe a tremendous debt to the Salvation Army. We’re very, very glad to help. People have responded amazingly, and we appreciate everybody’s kind generosity,” Overton said.

The goal for the local Salvation Army unit is to make Need Knows No Season an annual event, said Teresa Gauldin, the president of the Salvation Army of Waynesboro board of directors.

“We’re hoping this will be our second major fundraiser behind the kettles. We’re pleased with the response that we’ve gotten so far,” Gauldin said.

Event organizer Nancy Whitlock hopes the event can become the second big annual fundraiser for the Salvation Army to those ubiquitous kettles at Christmas.

“We came up with the name Need Knows No Season, because that’s so true. Everybody knows the Salvation Army for the bells and buckets every Christmas, but that only goes so far. We have a great need in our community. We have so many folks that we need to help with our social services program. And we’re off to a good start,” Whitlock said.

Story and Video by Chris Graham