Annual Lip Sync Contest Raises Thousands for Local Food Pantries
The Washington and Lee group Students Against Rockbridge Area Hunger (SARAH) is donating more than $8,600 raised at this year’s Lip Sync Contest to local charities that work to alleviate hunger in the community.
This year marked the 29th year of the annual Lip Sync Contest, which took place in the Student Activities Pavilion in late January. Jonathan Jetmundsen ’16, co-chair of SARAH, said 20 teams participated in the fundraiser and hundreds of spectators turned out to watch the musical performances.
Jetmundsen said SARAH is donating 70 percent of this year’s profits to the Rockbridge Area Relief Association (RARA), 20 percent to the Natural Bridge/Glasgow Food Pantry (NBGFP) and 10 percent to Campus Kitchen at Washington and Lee. All three non-profits count on money raised by the event and include the donations in their annual budgets.
“We’re pleased by the results,” Jetmundsen said. “This is pretty much in line with what we raised last year.”
The Lip Sync Contest was founded in 1987 by Jerry Darrell, retired head of Dining Services at Washington and Lee and an advocate for hunger relief in Rockbridge County.
“I’m so proud of the SARAH students carrying on this great tradition in supporting the less fortunate of our Lexington/Rockbridge community,” Darrell wrote in an email. “Hopefully, since the music is always contemporary, the event will continue forever.”
