Main Street Pops Launches Extensive Fund-Raising Campaign For Hoboken Through Online Film Festival Series

(ABOVE: AOBStudio.com photo)

Main Street Pops, a pop-up programming company whose mission is to bring communities together, is launching a series of major fundraising events to help bring relief during the COVID-19 pandemic to groups within Hoboken that most need support.

“Our original goal was to recreate the connectivity of Main Street USA by getting people off of their phones, computers and couches and engaging with one another”, said Co-Founder Tracy Gavant. “However, now we are encouraging people to stay on their couches, log onto their devices and join us online to help our community during this unprecedented pandemic. “

On May 15th, Main Street Pops will launch the first live screening of The Wild & Scenic Film Festival… Planting Seeds of Hope for Hoboken!

The Wild & Scenic Film Festival inspires environmental activism and a love for nature–through film. The festival goes On Tour to more than 250 events each year, partnering with groups who are working to protect and restore the important places in their communities.

Originally planned as a three-day weekend event to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, Main Street Pops has shifted gears to create a virtual film festival series online and will donate all proceeds to benefit three areas they’ve identified as most in need: Feeding Hoboken, Small Business Relief and Support of the Arts.

Since various levels of social distancing and travel limitations will continue for some time, the online festival will offer viewers a “virtual breath of fresh air”, with a series of film shorts that highlight all of the things that we cannot enjoy right now—open spaces, nature, animals, and outdoor adventures.

These films were carefully curated to be heartwarming and inspiring mini-escapes for the whole family!

“We’ve revised our format to create a safe and meaningful way to offer audiences compelling content while giving back to support our local Hoboken community in these difficult times.”, added her partner Zabrina Stoffel.

Each event in the series will launch with a live viewing party so people can come together, followed by a video-on-demand link for ticket purchasers to watch on their own for five days.

The May 15th launch will present inspiring film shorts during a live viewing party plus raise additional funds during intermission with The “H-Parade” auction, featuring one-of-a-kind custom-cut “Hoboken Hs” handcrafted by local workshop Hoboken Custom Craft that has been hand-painted by Hoboken’s talented local artists, including Ricardo Roig, Brittney Vogel, Chesleigh Meade, Ray Guzman ,Zac Scott Gross, Andrew Drilon and Virginia Einstein.

Residents can show their “Hoboken Pride” knowing that 100% of ticket sales and H-Parade art auction proceeds go to F.L.A.G., Hoboken Food Pantry, and the Hoboken Shelter.

Main Street Pops will present a second live viewing event on June 4, which will benefit the newly created Hoboken Relief Fund, providing aid to small businesses and individuals in need. In addition to more film shorts to take you away from it all, they will launch the

“H-Parade” t-shirt sale, featuring all of the one-of-a-kind hand-painted “Hoboken Hs” from the previous auction. This allows all those who didn’t win the original artwork an opportunity to still proudly display their Hoboken Pride.

There is a third event planned for the summer, which will include more film escapes, and feature special performances from Mile Square Theatre to entertain and delight viewers. One hundred percent of the proceeds will go to Mile Square Theatre, to keep Hoboken’s beloved local theatre and the largest arts nonprofit in Hudson County afloat.

“We were so thrilled that most of our original sponsors were still able to support us, despite these uncertain economic times.”, said Shan Gettens, the third partner in the Main Street Pops team. Local sponsors include Hair Cult, Natural Awakenings, GCM Homes and Muller Insurance.

As we all continue to navigate our new normal, this virtual film festival promises to briefly transport us to other places together as we stay safely at home and apart, all while giving back to our friends and neighbors. Isn’t that what community is all about?

CLICK HERE to register and purchase tickets.

For more information, visit their website at mainstreetpops.com, follow them on social media @mainstreetpops. For general tour information, go to wildandscenicfilmfestival.org.

***