Can show choir truly change the world? Is it possible for a competition or concert to have an impact half a world away? Can ANY show choir easily harness the power of their art to help suffering humans? Can the bright lights and brilliant music of hundreds of young performers alter the futures of thousands of humans who don’t even know that show choirs exist? Through Performing Arts for Thirst, the answer is yes, yes, yes and yes!
Fighting World Thirst, Together
The horror of the global water crisis affects nearly 700 million people worldwide. This means that people are forced to walk miles every day of their lives to obtain water from unprotected sources like streams and ponds that are shared with livestock that defecate and urinate in the water. This parasite-filled filth is then consumed by those without any other source of hydration. People get sick, organs shut down and thousands of people die daily from this travesty.
Heart of America is a proud, long-standing partner with Thirst Project, the world’s leading youth water organization. Founded in 2008 by a 19-year-old show choir kid (Seth Maxwell) from Indiana who discovered the atrocity of this crisis, Thirst has raised over $15 million to give over 700,000 people clean water for life! Thirst is a humanitarian 501(c)3 whose sole mission is to activate young people to help those in need receive this fundamental human right of clean water for a lifetime.
HOA began partnering with Performing Arts for Thirst (formerly Show Choirs For Thirst) several years ago by holding “Miracle Minutes” at each HOA event. After a quick announcement, students pass through the crowd in a high-energy and high-impact moment of voluntary giving. The funds are totaled, and the proceeds are utilized to help build clean water wells in the African nations of Eswatini and Kenya and in the Latin American country of El Salvador. Heart of America and Music Travel Consultants (MTC) double these donations with a dollar-for-dollar match!
Making a Measurable Impact
To date, HOA has donated approximately $70,000, providing this life-saving resource to almost 3,000 precious humans. This past summer, HOA was humbled to receive the prestigious “Board of Governor’s Award” at Thirst’s annual gala in Los Angeles. Owners Mark Harting and Ryan Morris, Executive Producer Dan Baker and HOA Founder Chad Alexander were given special recognition for their commitment to this cause.
More than 60 schools have collaborated with Thirst Project since Outreach Coordinator Damon Brown launched Thirst’s national show choir campaign. Since 2017, show choirs have raised nearly $600,000, providing 25,000 individuals with a chance for a future filled with better health, longer lives and greater opportunities. And here’s an amazing fact: your school can participate at no cost, with minimal preparation, and start your legacy of helping others as soon as today! Over 40 competitions in 2025 are partnering with Thirst, and now you can join the fight to assist others!
Show choirs like yours can help children be healthy enough to attend school, assist elderly people in living out their lives with dignity, and be a reason mothers are healthy enough to work outside their homes and provide for their families. Your show choir family can add a component of compassion, kindness, caring, and love, with virtually no preparation or cost to your program.
Join Us
For more information about Performing Arts for Thirst, please contact Damon Brown at DamonB@thirstproject.org. Join hands with all of us at HOA in igniting “The Power of Show Choir to Change The World”!
