Why I'm Launching This
In September 2014, my life changed forever. My Granda Denis, who was also my best friend, passed away after a long and difficult battle with cancer. This fundraiser is in his honour, to raise money to support and maybe one day find a cure for this monster of an illness.
By supporting this campaign, you will be:
- Supporting Irish cancer research, which will get shared worldwide and benefit you and your loved ones even if you don't live here.
- Honouring my Granda's legacy, and keeping his memory alivee as well as the memory of everyone who's lost a battle to cancer.
- Helping those affected by cancer now live better.
During his final days, we found ourselves in the hospital constantly, no sleep, no food, barely functioning. I was brought home one evening to rest for a few hours - not that any of us could. I always turned to art and music to cope, so I let out a stream of consciousness in the form of a song that I sang for my aunt over the phone.
Expecting nothing of this and returning to the hospital a few hours later to continue spending those precious hours with him. She had recorded this without me knowing and shared it with everyone. It was the first time in my life that something I created was helping people process something in the way I did.
Things were getting worse fast. He was in a coma, and as we all stood around him, saying our goodbyes one-by-one, my Nan asked that my song be the last thing he hear. I was too upset to sing, and to me it felt wrong to take that moment from my Nan and her soulmate, but she insisted and played the recording. After being in a coma for days, barely responsive, his heart rate went up when he heard the song and he passed away during the chorus.
It changed all of our lives forever. Not only was he a father, a grandfather, a son, a brother, a friend, a colleague, he was such a gentle, pure soul. When I tell you he had a whole cathedral full to the brim at his funeral and that there was a queue all the way down the hill outside, it's no exaggeration. He gave his all to everything, always looked on the bright side, fought for better days, and was empathy and understanding personified.
I wasn't going to release this song ever. It's such an important song to me, my family, and as an aspiring songwriter, capitalising off a song like this feels so wrong. I returned to it a few weeks ago when I was processing the 8th anniversary of his passing, and as I re-harmonised it, and adjusted the lyrics to suit his story better, it felt like the right thing to release this in his honour.
What We Spend & What You Get
Here's the more nitty gritty stuff about your donation:
- We have a fundraising goal of €500 and 100% of profits go to the Irish Cancer Society. This means that at least €250 will be donated to the Irish Cancer Society if this goal is reached so we can support them and you can receive this piece of his legacy.
- We have t-shirts and CDs as perks for now, though we do have stretch goals if the €500 milestone is exceeded. We decided on two products in order to maximise profits for the charity.
- As CDs and t-shirts are bought in bulk quantities, it gets cheaper per piece the more we buy, which will allow us to print some additional freebies for you with the stretch goals. That is only if we reach the initial goal, however.
- If the goal is not reached, the money will still be donated to charity, and people who asked for CDs or t-shirts will receive a gift as a thank you for supporting, though we will do our best to fulfil the perks you claimed at our own cost.
- We will give all our backers full breakdowns of the costs so you can see where your money is going, as well as offer a donation only tier, which will all go to charity.
- You will receive updates and special behind the scenes and early access to every process surrounding the campaign as well as voting privileges on t-shirt designs and final CD covers (before the printing deadlines, of course)
- We aim to have all backers who support us before 1st December (worldwide) and 10th December (Ireland) to receive their orders before Christmas.
Risks & Challenges
We do have some worries and challenges regarding this, which we will remain open and honest about as it's important for me that you know and are part of our process:
- Firstly, I'm not a famous musician, I don't have clout, so I have no guarantee I'll sell any CDs. This is a passion project for someone who holds an important place in my heart, and I'm really hoping that you can help share and support the social media content for this, in order to make it a success and help those affected by cancer currently in his honour. It will definitely be a group effort, but I believe in us! :)
- When I say 'we', I'm not referring to a big manufacturing team. My partner and I will be doing everything here: the producing, designing, marketing, ordering, and postage. We will get the t-shirts and CDs printed by third-parties as we don't have the tools to do that, but everything else is a two-person job. This is a huge undertaking, but we care so much about doing this right, and every little donation can help so much, whether it's through our campaign or directly to ICS on cancer.ie
- Minimum quantities are thankfully much more accessible now, and for a little more per unit, I can order CDs from as little as 50 units, and t-shirts from as little as 25 tees. If I don't sell at least these quantities, then the rest of the unit costs I will cover from my own limited savings to ensure as much as possible goes to charity. Unfortunately, I am both a student and disabled, so my financial streams are limited, and if we can hit these minimum quantities, then I won't have to dip into my savings for this.
Other Ways You Can Help
If you don't or can't contribute financially, I totally understand. It's 100% your choice, and I don't want anyone to feel pressured. If you are interested in supporting us for free, here are some things you can do that will massively help:
- Tell any friends and family about this campaign who may be interested.
- Don't forget to share this campaign link on your social media, and tag me on social media if you make content about it @gabimccormackmusic (except twitter: @GabiMCMusic)
- Indiegogo makes sharing really quick too with embedded share tools, and you can always follow along the project and be notified of updates via email.
THANK YOU! <3 From the bottom of my heart, and the top of my soul, every little bit can make a difference, and whether you choose to back this project or not, I appreciate you taking the time to read this, and hope you have a beautiful day/night.