Manta Band halfway to fundraising target

Just months before its scheduled performance at the 2012 London Olympics, the Saipan Southern High School Manta Ray Band is only halfway to the $300,000 it needs to finance its trip to the English capital.

Saipan Southern High principal Jesse Tudela is still optimistic, however, about the group’s chance of finding the balance of the amount. To date, the group already has about $150,000 on hand, Tudela said, inclusive of the parents’ share in their children’s airfare, educational tax credit donations, and proceeds of the school’s early fundraising activities.

This month, the school will host a big fundraiser: the Manta Band Golf Tournament on March 31 at the Coral Ocean Point. Individual player’s fee is $75. It will start at 7am for the registration.

Tudela said the band aims to raise between $5,000 and $10,000 from this event. As of last week, two golfing clubs have already confirmed their participation, he said.

To raise more funds, the band will have a “We Are the World” concert on May 4 at Fiesta Resort & Spa Saipan, beginning at 6pm. Tudela said the event will have a raffle drawing where a total of $10,000 in cash prizes await winners, including a $5,000 grand prize.

Of the 3,000 tickets produced for the raffle, Saipan Tribune learned that only 1,500 have so far been sold to sponsors at $50 each, which will entitle them to the concert performance. The Manta Band aims to raise $100,000 from this raffle.

A tree-planting fundraiser is also coming up wherein community members will be asked to sponsor a flame tree for a fee. Tudela said that over 100 seedlings are being made available by the CNMI Forestry Division, with the assistance of CNMI Delegate Gregorio Kilili C. Sablan.

Other fundraising events are in the pipeline, including a mini-concert in collaboration with a Korean musical group. Solicitation efforts are also continuing.

The Manta Ray Band is slated to perform at the 2012 Olympics in the following events: adjudicated invitational concert at Queen Elizabeth’s conference center with four or five other elite high school bands from around the world; a second performance for the current UN secretary general and his four predecessors as the Olympic torch is revealed in their presence; a concert on the grounds of the revered Westminster Abbey; and at least one show for Olympic audiences at a sporting venue.