Youth Opportunities Unlimited (Y.O.U.), Northeast Ohio’s largest youth workforce development organization, is presenting a concert event with Grammy-winning singer Patti LaBelle. An Evening with Patti LaBelle: A Benefit Concert for Youth Opportunities Unlimited will take place November 8th at the State Theater at Cleveland’s Playhouse Square.
Patti LaBelle has spent over 50 years in the music industry, including 16 years as lead singer of Patti LaBelle and the Bluebelles, and later Labelle in the early 1970s, who are best-known for their disco song “Lady Marmalade.” Ms. LaBelle has sold over 50 million records worldwide.
For over 30 years, Y.O.U. has helped teens escape the cycle of poverty, redirecting their lives toward academic and career success. Typically relying on benefit luncheons to attract individual and corporate donors, sponsoring a concert is a new approach for the organization.
“Patti LaBelle’s name and music have a wide appeal that span the demographic spectrum. A concert featuring Ms. LaBelle seemed a natural way to attract and inform new people about Y.O.U.,” says Marc Nathanson, the organization’s Senior Development Director.
“Our long-term goal is to triple the amount of kids whose lives we can lift up out of difficult circumstances – so in terms of getting our name and mission out there, and attracting new donors, this is a really big event for us. Plus, Patti LaBelle hasn’t performed in Cleveland since 2004 – so this should be a really fun, exciting evening for everyone…and the kind of event that corporate sponsors should want to be a part of,” Nathanson says. Current sponsors include: Bank of America, Call & Post, Cleveland.com, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland Magazine, Cleveland Mentors, Cleveland Plain Dealer, First National Bank, Huntington Bank, JPMorgan Chase, Key Bank, Ohio Lottery Commission, Parker Hannifan, Pat Catan’s, Quicken Loans, RPM International, Spark Your Brand, Turner Construction, USBank, WKYC, and WZAK.
Tickets can be purchased in person at the State Theatre lobby, by phone at 216-241-6000, or online at www.playhousesquare.org.
Y.O.U. was founded in December 1982 as a nonprofit to provide Cleveland teens with their first paid summer job. Today Y.O.U offers in-school and after-school employability and entrepreneurship skill training, and high school graduation mentoring to at-risk youth.
