By Mark Ambrogi
Jim Geiman had a fundraising idea to raise money for a church music ministry by producing a Christmas album.
However, when Hurricane Matthew slammed Haiti in October, he decided to devote the proceeds to the storm victims.
“Once we saw that, it was a no-brainer. They were devastated,” Geiman said.
Geiman runs the Glass Eye Group, a video production services operated out of Kingston’s Music Showcase, 340 Ridgepoint Dr., Carmel.
Kingston’s allowed Geiman to use the space and equipment to make the CD, called “Christmas from the Heart.”
“The church I go to has been trying to raise money for the people in Haiti for the last 15 to 20 years,” said Geiman, who attends St. Bernard’s Catholic Church in Crawfordsville. “There is this one part of Haiti (rural Carrefour Sanon) where we’ve been putting in floors on their huts. Their mortality rate for kids is 70 percent. We found when we put concrete floors down, the mortality rate goes down to under 20 percent. It costs $350 to $400 a floor.”
Many houses were destroyed during the hurricane. The community’s school and clinic lost their roofs.
“We were first going to give a couple of bucks for each CD sold,” Geiman said. “When we found out how bad it was, we decided we would give it all. They lost everything. They lost all their livestock and all their crops.”
Geiman approached vocalist Rick Bzdok, St. Bernard’s music coordinator, about the album and he readily agreed to help. Several other area musicians, including Tim Wright, Devon Ashely, Austin Johnson, Anne Wolfley and Roderick Johnson, donated their talents to the album.
“You go through life and you’ve got to do something to pay back,” Geiman said. “You get a CD that sounds good, and you get to help somebody. It’s a win-win for everybody.”
Geiman said he is hoping to raise $5,000 through album sales. Geiman said he welcomes other store owners wanting to see it in their stores.
The albums are on sale for $10 at Kingston’s or visit cdbaby.com/cd/rickbzdok to download or purchase a CD. It’s available on Amazon.com under Rick Bzdok’s name. For more on the Haiti project or to donate, visit gofundme.com/operation-hope-for-haiti?r=50826.
