CHICAGO — A Chicago benefit concert to help first responders to last year's Sandy Hook massacre was canceled due to low ticket sales, it was announced Wednesday.
The event, scheduled for Sunday at Untitled, 111 W. Kinzie St., was set to feature performances by local musicians and the Chicago Children's Choir and a silent auction.
"It is with great sadness that we have to cancel the Chicago Musicians Care Performance & Benefit event ... due to low ticket sales," read a Facebook post from organizer Chicago Musicians Care, which was created in response to the shooting.
One of the goals of the music project, Founder Kevin Tenbrunsel said in a YouTube video, was "to send a message to the people of Sandy Hook that this city has not forgotten, and still grieve the tragedy of that day."
But he didn't want to proceed with the concert if it wasn't going to make money.
"We decided, 'We don’t want to just have a party, we want to help the people of Sandy Hook,'" he said.
The low ticket sales were disappointing to Tenbrunsel and Josephine Lee, president of the Chicago Children's Choir.
"These people were donating their time to help a cause," Lee said. "It's disappointing, but I think everyone's intentions were really good and so, what can you do?"
Donations can still be made by purchasing on iTunes a cover of Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" performed by the local musicians and the Chicago Children's Choir for Sandy Hook.
Items donated for the silent auction will also still be auctioned off online in the future, Tenbrunsel said.
Proceeds go to Sandy Hook Workers Assistance Fund, which helps teachers, first responders and other workers suffering mental health issues from the shooting.
The concert was scheduled just shy of the one-year anniversary on Dec. 14. Audio recordings of 911 calls from the shooting in in Newtown, Conn. were released to the public Wednesday.
