Musician couple host concerts to fundraise for food pantry
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Musicians Raise Money to Feed Neighbors
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The Daily Universe
Musicians David Shenton and Erin Shields perform inside their home. The married couple has led virtual concerts from their living room to raise thousands of dollars for the Mosaic West Queens Church food pantry, where they volunteer every weekend. (AP Photo/Emily Leshner)
David Shenton and Erin Shields lived life as touring musicians before the pandemic began. The couple traveled worldwide to perform popular Broadway songs. But now, the married duo performs in their living room for a much greater cause: funding the food pantry at Mosaic West Queens Church. When Shenton and Shields first lost work at the beginning of the pandemic, they began seeing the lines to the food pantry lengthen. So they decided to bring their talents online and began hosting virtual concerts to raise money for the food pantry.
With a speaker and an open window at a Manhattan restaurant, one musician is serving up live music in the midst of the pandemic. NBC New York s Adam Kuperstein reports.
It began when they saw the lines that stretched for blocks outside the pantry, which is near their apartment. Several friends had lost jobs after Broadway closed, and they felt the need to help.
“When your entire industry shuts down, you think, ‘well, how are we going to do this?’” Shields said. “Seeing the people in line ., you go, ‘I can be that person and that could be my family member.’”