The Canary Fund wanted to find a way to get the community to involved in raising money while letting people show their creative side and have fun.
“To be able to entertain and just celebrate our community, but also raise necessary funds for an awesome organization," said Dan Terrio. "For me, that’s a win right there.“
The nonprofit held its first "Virtual Lip Sync Battle" this year. The winners were announced on a livestream Friday night hosted by Nina West, who was on season 11 of RuPaul’s Drag Race. Dan Terrio, from Green Bay, took first place, winning a $1,000 for his submission inspired by his most recent Netflix binge-watch.
“'All my friends kept telling me, you look like David Rose from Schitt’s Creek,'" he said. "'You look like Dan Levy.'“
Pete Angilello created the canary fund in 2019, in honor of his husband, Jim Rivett, who died by suicide. The nonprofit gives seed grants of to change-makers all over Northeast Wisconsin.
“He was an entrepreneur, he was an artist," said Angilello. "But most of all, he was a really kind and generous person.“
Virtual audiences voted for their favorites with their dollars, and the lip-sync battle wasn’t open just to individuals.
“Jim was a supporter of Happily Ever After," said Marcus Reitz, Branding and Development Manager for the Happily Ever After Animal Santuary. "When we saw the opportunity to be able to do this and carry some of his work forward, it was something we knew we wanted to participate in.“
The shelter came in second place, winning $500 for their remix of "Whoomp There It Is," changing the lyrics to make it "Poop There It Is."
“There’s a lot of cute dogs and a lot of cute cats," said Reitz. "But there’s another thing behind the scenes that everybody else doesn’t get it exposed to, and that’s a lot of poop.”
The Canary Fund exceeded their fundraising goal of $12,000, raising $13,000.
“I know a lot of nonprofits just sent out envelopes this year for donations," said Angilello. "But if you know the group of people that are a part of this organization you would know that they just love to push the boundaries.”
You can watch all of the contestants videos and leave donations on The Canary Fund's web site here.
