A Shared Mission Takes the Stage: Music and Meals Bring Two Nonprofits Together

Two Sullivan County nonprofits are once again joining forces around a simple idea: great food and great music have the power to bring people together.

A Single Bite and the Shandelee Music Festival will present The Perfect Pairing: Jazz, Cocktails & Elevated Bites on Thursday, Aug. 6, an evening fundraiser featuring the Leslie Pintchik Trio while supporting the missions of both organizations.

For organizers, the event represents more than a fundraiser—it reflects a shared commitment to strengthening community through nourishment, whether that’s providing meals or enriching lives through music.

Sims Foster, co-founder of A Single Bite and a member of the Shandelee Music Festival board, said the partnership grew naturally from his longtime appreciation for the festival.

“As a former musician myself, I’ve always enjoyed sneaking away to these beautiful summer August evenings and the concerts up there,” he said.

After joining the festival’s board, Foster said organizers began exploring ways the two nonprofits could work together while introducing supporters of one organization to the other.

“We’re always looking for creative ways to continue to build up new awareness about organizations,” Foster said. “We may have had people that are passionate about A Single Bite, and Dan certainly had people that were passionate about the Shandelee Music Festival. How do we combine and kind of co-mix and co-mingle and be good partners?”

Last year’s collaboration featured a formal sit-down dinner before a performance. This year, organizers are taking a more relaxed approach with a reception-style event centered around live jazz, cocktails, conversation and small plates.

“We decided to go a little lighter,” Foster said. “We’re having this big cocktail party with this amazing jazz group—a little more social, a little more circulation, a little more music and food and conversation.”

‘Music Is Food for the Soul’

The event’s theme, “Music is Food for the Soul,” reflects the missions of both organizations.

For Foster, food provides literal nourishment while music feeds something deeper.

“Food is nourishing,” he said. “A Single Bite is here to help our neighbors who are most in need. We’re now feeding 1,300 or 1,400 people a week through our meal program.”

A Single Bite also operates nutrition education programs in every Sullivan County school, reaching seventh-grade students through what Foster described as its “real food education program.”

“The food part is obvious,” he said. “The music is about something else. It nourishes different parts of our humanity.”

For Shandelee Music Festival founder Dan Stroup, the festival’s mission is to encourage exceptional musicians while bringing world-renowned artists to Sullivan County.

“One of the highest priorities of the festival is to partner with local arts and educational institutions and to engage people of all ages in the live concert experience,” he said.

Jazz in the Mountains

This year’s fundraiser will feature the Leslie Pintchik Trio, performing original jazz compositions and standards in the festival’s mountaintop pavilion.

Proceeds from the event will be divided equally between the two nonprofits after event expenses.

“You really are supporting two organizations,” Foster said. “It’s two for the price of one.”

The collaboration also introduces new audiences to each organization’s work.

“It was nice to see people last year who didn’t know about A Single Bite and we got to introduce them to the cause,” Foster said. “Other people on the other side as well. We’re constantly trying to cross-pollinate.”

Celebrating Community

Both men said the fundraiser also reflects the generosity of local residents.

“I’m constantly humbled and sometimes overwhelmed with the generosity of volunteerism and spirit and financial donations that we see at A Single Bite,” Foster said. “We’re not a rich county. We are a rural county and we have our struggles. I think in some ways that makes the people here understand that if they don’t give, who else? If not me, who?”

Image: Pianist & Composer Leslie Pintchik will perform with the Leslie Pintchik Trio at “The Perfect Pairing: Jazz, Cocktails & Elevated Bites” on Thursday, August 6. (Leslie Pintchik Archives)