Benefit concert to help local family coming to Red Bayou Methodist Church
By Kenny Mitchell
The community is invited for a special night of Christian music in August as local vocalist Heather Russell, along with pianist Richard Lovelace and local singer and firefighter Jack Abston will perform a benefit concert to raise money for a family in need.
Local resident Carla Henson will be having an organ transplant in Dallas, and the family will have to spend an extended time near the hospital in Dallas as she recovers from the surgery and undergoes post-op treatments and tests.
Henson has had a tough year in her health, going to multiple hospitals in the area that could not help her before finally being sent to Medical City in Dallas. She has already spent two weeks in an ICU room and is now in a regular room awaiting the transplant operation. She has been approved for the transplant and will have to remain in Dallas for at least two months after the procedure is completed, with family members having to travel back and forth to be with her.
Her daughter, Jenna Henson, told the West Bowie Post, “My sweet momma is preparing for a lifesaving organ transplant and the road ahead is long. With frequent travel, lodging for two months, medications, follow-up appointments, and time away from work, the financial burden is significant. If my momma has ever touched your life, we ask that you consider supporting her and our family during this journey.”
Heather Russell, known around the area as a top-notch singer, told us, “I wanted to do something for the family so, and this is what I do.”
Russell says the set list will have something for everyone as she intends to sing some of her classic favorites including “All My Hope’ along with “Speak the Name” and “When He was on the Cross” and many more of what she calls a set list very heavy with a CeCe Winans vibe.
Lovelace, who is well known also as a talented pianist, will also add some instrumental tunes to the night’s performances, and Abston is set to do his own arrangement of the gospel tune, “Where I find God.”
Russell stated, “I know with my own health problems how expensive it is to go back and forth and to have to stay in Dallas, plus all of the expenses that come with it. They have a long road ahead of them and they don’t have a big family for support, but they do have a big church family at Red Bayou, and Tapp will be there for them too.”
Russell, who serves the community as the Administrative Director at New Boston SIDC/CDC and Chamber of Commerce, added, “We have never done something like this before, but it seems like the appropriate time for us to do this. If you don’t feel blessed when you walk out of that church that night, then there is something wrong with you.”
The night will also include a silent auction for cakes and pies at the concert intermission, with the desserts prepared by those in the community who definitely know their way around the kitchen.
A GoFundMe has also been started to help the family and you can find it at https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-carlas-organ-transplant-and-recovery?
Jenna added, “From the bottom of our hearts, the Henson and Sanders family want to thank you for your kindness and support and helping us not walk on this path alone. Our family is 6th generation members at Red Bayou, and I absolutely love those people for doing this for us.”
The concert is scheduled for Sunday, August 23 at 6 p.m.
Admission is free but a love offering will be taken to support the Henson/Sanders family.
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