In an effort to assist vulnerable Calgarians and a local agency that supplies a valuable service, a group of Calgary musicians came together to record a song to raise funds.
The ‘Favourite Sweater’ single was the brainchild of pop-jazz chanteuse Ellen Doty and Danny Vacon, frontman of ‘The Dudes’.
“People say it sounds Christmas-y so we thought that it would be a good time to release it,” said Doty. “(Its) kind of a ‘Baby, it’s cold outside’ vibe. A duet back-and-forth with some callbacks (and) with a clarinet solo in there too.”
In addition to Doty and Vacon’s contributions, Dan Reynolds played piano and Brett McDonald added clarinet to the track.
All proceeds from the sale of the song will be donated to the Calgary Drop-In Centre.
Jordan Hamilton, manager of external relations at the Calgary Drop-In and Rehab Centre, says "Ellen (Doty) is awesome" and has performed for the Drop-In Centre guests on a number of occassions.
“"I think it’s great that Ellen thought about a really creative way for people to give generously," said Hamilton. "I'm so appreciative of the effort she's making."
Hamilton says that while donations of warm clothing are always appreciated and accepted, financial donations do go a long way towards improving the agency's ability to provide a hand up.
"We want to provide counselling services, we want to provide job training. Things that create the foundation for support," explained Hamilton. "Thanks to Ellen's support and the monetary gift she's making, we can do all these wonderful things, which is great, because that's what's going to end homelessness."
Favourite Sweater is available for download through Bandcamp
With files from CTV's Brad MacLeod
