Money fluttered down from the floors above the Palm Beach County Governmental Center atrium Monday, Dec. 17, while members of Circuit Sound — the Palm Beach County Clerk & Comptroller’s Office employee choir — sang holiday favorites to raise money for charity.
Circuit Sound’s annual holiday performance, a beloved tradition at the governmental center, raised $800 for Helen Gatti. Gatti was nominated for the 2012 “Season to Share” campaign by 211 Palm Beach/Treasure Coast, which helps people in need.
Gatti attended the performance, and afterward had lunch with Palm Beach County Clerk Sharon Bock.
“Each year, Circuit Sound picks a charity to benefit from their performance at the governmental center,” Bock said. “This year, I asked them to select someone from the Season to Share list, because I was so moved by their stories. Mrs. Gatti has given so much of herself over the years, so it was nice to be able to give something back to her.”
Last year, Circuit Sound raised $500 for Home Safe, a Palm Beach County nonprofit organization devoted to caring for and helping abused children. Circuit Sound performances have raised more than $6,000 for local charities since 1997.
The 16 members of Circuit Sound practice and perform on their own time.
The Circuit Sound performance capped off the clerk & comptroller’s office’s charitable donation efforts for 2012. In December, Bock presented 24 charities with their share of $40,040 from the clerk’s office’s Dress Down Friday program. Employees give charitable donations in exchange for dressing casually on Fridays, and vote on the charities that receive the money from the Dress Down program.
This year, each of the 24 Dress Down charities received a check for $1,544. Since its creation in 1994, the Dress Down program has raised nearly $700,000 for local nonprofit groups.
Clerk’s employees also raised $10,172 for the American Heart Association’s Heart Walk; $4,500 for Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure South Florida; $2,140 for Stand Down House; and $2,000 for the Domestic Violence Council of Palm Beach County.
