THE SEATTLE FOUNDATION’S THIRD ANNUAL GIVEBIG EVENT:

SAVE THE DATE! On May 15th, we are participating in Seattle’s biggest day of giving of the year!

Make your gift to The Vera Project grow with The Seattle Foundation’s GiveBIG one-day, online giving event aimed to inspire people to give generously to local nonprofit organizations, like Vera, who make your community a vibrant, vital place to live. In 2012, over 37,800 donors gave a staggering $7.43M to Seattle area non-profits through The Seattle Foundation’s GiveBIG challenge. Here’s how it works:

1.    Visit The Vera Project’s page on the GiveBIG website on Wednesday, May 15.

2.    Click Donate Now, and then click Make a credit card donation.

3.    Make a gift of any size.

That’s it! Every donation made to Vera during GiveBIG earns Vera a pro-rated portion of the GiveBIG stretch pool. The amount of the stretch depends on how much is earned in total donations on GiveBIG day and the size of the stretch pool (which totals $800,000!!!) – so the more Vera raises, the further your gift is stretched! The only catch is that, in order to count towards our giveBIG total, gifts must be made on May 15, 2013, with a credit card, through SeattleFoundation.org. Read more about why it’s the best day to give, and where your donation goes after the jump!

On Wednesday, May 15th The Vera Project will be the beneficiary of Little Big Show #6.  Held at the Neptune Theater, the concert will feature one of our favorite artists, Jim James of My Morning Jacket. 100% of ticket sales from this show will benefit Vera’s concerts and educational programs for all ages.  Thanks to our friends Starbucks, Seattle Theatre Group and KEXP for making this happen.

KEXP + Starbucks + STG bring you Little Big Show, a concert series that gives big love to Seattle arts organizations. Several times a year, they find a great band or two, give them the stage at the Neptune and donate 100% of ticket sales to a local non-profit. To date, they have raised over $55,000 – proving out to be the little show with a big effect.  Vera is thrilled to join this important community partnership for the sixth Little Big Show!

They’re finally here: Vera Project Skateboards! Thanks to a partnership with Cloud City Skateboard Shop, we present to you the first in a series of artist-designed shop decks that will be available both online and at Cloud City’s store located in West Seattle.

Our first artist design is by former silkscreener of The Vera Project, Bruno Circirello. Bruno spends his time sketching and designing, working on children’s books, and maintaining his award-winning creative blog, sugarblast.com. A portion of the proceeds from each skateboard sale will benefit The Vera Project, so you can ride in style while supporting your favorite all-ages venue!

Many thanks goes out to our friends at Cloud City, learn more about them here.

Photo by Sheri Foreman

By Julieta Renteria

Said The Whale stopped by the Vera Project in March after a whirlwind year, and on the heels of a North American tour with fellow Canadian indie rockers, Stars. 

Despite their demanding schedule, and a dispute with border patrol over merchandise on the way into the states, Said the Whale put on an intimate, yet energetic performance. Fans were eager to wish Tyler Bancroft a happy birthday, and he reciprocated stating quite sincerely that Vera Project was exactly the place he wanted to celebrate his 28th. The set opened with a quiet, heartfelt acoustic track that had the audience hushed, but soon got everyone clapping with “The City’s A Mess” from their first full length, Howe Sounds/Taking Abalonia. The band played a stomping and rambling mix of old and new songs (and some very new songs, debuting two from the upcoming album which is currently in progress) that had fans singing along. Highlights of the evening were “Loveless” and “Big Sky, MT” from the band’s newest release Little Mountain, as well as “Black Day In December” off of the 2009 LP Islands Disappear. More review after the jump!