Happy Valentine’s Day from the Big Band Experience!

No matter what stage of love you’re in—from the doe-eyed beginnings to the happy and/or bitter end—the Big Band Experience’s “What’ll I Do” album has a song for you.

Things are just getting started…
Are you lusting after your sweetheart, trying to convince your sweetie that you’re the one? The perfect song for this stage in your hoped-for-relationship? “Can I Steal a Little Love.” Taking into consideration that stealing is technically illegal in all 50 states, the song promises that if the object of desire can prove the theft was wrong, the singer will give it back (but not before begging to be hugged, squeezed, and walked down the aisle).

Things are perfect…
You’re in love and things are going great? Well, that’s…. great! “My Girl Tonight” is the song for you. Don’t be fooled by the insinuation that this is just for tonight. This song takes you from your first kiss to your wedding to beyond. And who doesn't want a devotee who will follow “blindly where you go?” Put this one on repeat. Go ahead, swoon to the croon.

Things have gone sour…
Have you just broken up with your paramour? If so, you may be wondering what you’ll do now. Take a listen to “What’ll I Do.” It won’t provide you with any answers, but it will certainly remind you that you’re now stuck pining away after photographs and dreams. That’s tough stuff, but after a break up, do you really want to listen to happy music? Enter “One for My Baby,” where the “end of a brief episode” calls for music that’s “easy and sad.” And also several adult beverages.

Here’s hoping your Valentine’s Day finds you holding hands with the object of your affection. But, if not, console yourself with some good music and some candy hearts. Maybe some chocolate, too.

Five NPOs to Consider

 Five Midwest Charities That Are Moving Mountains

 

Even though the 2013 "Spirit of the Season" Holiday Tour has come and gone, the shaun johnson Big Band Experience mission remains. Shaun and the rest of the Big Band Experience members were honored to have played a small part in helping multiple charities bring joy to thousands of people in need. The following highlights what some of those charities do best.  

 

Wishes & More 

Wishes & More creates extraordinary experiences for wish children. The goal of this children’s charity is simple: grant wishes to children with terminal and life-threatening illnesses and provide hopeful hearts, happy memories and assistance to those who love them. This November, the Minnesota Wild's Matt Cooke wrote a new page in the memory book by inviting Wishes & More families to enjoy a Wild game in a box suite. 

 

Lunch is Served, Inc.

Lunch Is Served, Inc. is a nonprofit with the unique mission of delivering simple sack lunches for working men and women who are attempting to break the chains of poverty and hunger.

 

 

 

Make-A-Wish® Iowa
Every 38 minutes Make-A-Wish® grants the wish of a child diagnosed with a life-threatening medical condition in the United States and its territories. We believe that a wish experience can be a game-changer. This one belief guides us in everything we do. It inspires us to grant wishes that change the lives of the kids we serve. One child, 6-year-old Esther who was adopted from Uganda, wished to go to Disney's Animal Kingdom to see some familiar animals. When her family of 17 and two helpers (picture below) made the journey from Cedar Rapids, Iowa in February of 2013, they became the largest for Wish party in Iowa history.

 

 

Open Door Mission
Open Door Mission is a Gospel Rescue Mission founded in 1954 committed to breaking the cycle of homelessness and poverty. Each day, Open Door Mission’s campus offers 816 safe, shelter beds to homeless men, women and children, serves over 2,000 hot, nutritious meals and provides preventive measures to more than 275 people living in poverty.

 

 

360 Communities
Founded more than 40 years ago by a group of volunteers, 360 Communities provides hope and support to more than 14,000 individuals each year with 11 programs in over 40 locations, including a network of five food shelves, two domestic violence shelters, two resource centers and three programs that support school success from birth through high school graduation. A group of Burnsville food shelf volunteers is pictured below. 

 

 

 

 

 

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