Luke Combs benefits local charity during South Bend stop, $150k and counting
SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- Michiana is still buzzing after the Luke Combs concert at Notre Dame Stadium this past weekend.
The massive show drew in a crowd of more than 80,000 to watch the country star perform on his 'My Kinda Saturday Night Tour'.
One local charity has good reason to still be buzzing after Combs himself chose it to be the recipient of a stunning monetary donation during his stop in South Bend.
"Of course I was like 'Thank you, can't thank you enough,'" recalls Tieal Bishop, Founder & CEO of A Rosie Place for Children. "The quote that sticks out to me most of what he said was just, you know 'Don't thank me, look what you guys do. What you're doing is so important."
Bishop had no idea what the week of the Luke Combs concert at Notre Dame would hold for her and her charity.
She definitely wasn't expecting to meet Combs and get to thank him face-to-face for a surprise, generous gift.
"Yes, it's Luke Combs and everybody is like 'Ahh', right, but for me it was so much about being able to thank him and show our gratitude," says Bishop.
One hundred and fifty thousand dollars and counting, all thanks to a live auction of vintage basketball cards featuring Combs and Ken Goldin, known as 'The King of Collectibles,' from his Netflix show.
"There's a whole entire world that follows this. We knew nothing about that and had to learn really quick," Bishop admits. "So they're opening a box from 1987 and it's basketball cards, so they were looking for like the Michael Jordan, so it was really amazing because it was kind of historic."
Through Instagram, Combs and his team discovered A Rosie Place for Children and decided they should benefit from the auction.
The kids and staff at A Rosie Place grabbed their popcorn and tuned in live Friday night.
"The fact that he would highlight medically fragile children," says Bishop. "The fact that he would say and shine this spotlight on a population that is really not seen and not heard very often."
Bishop says the gift translates to more than 200 sleepovers for medically fragile children at no cost to their families.
"It's providing this opportunity for children to come and create art, and take bubble baths, and things they just can't normally do at home," Bishop explains. "Our children are on ventilators, they have feeding tubes, they have all kinds of medical complexities just to their everyday living, and their parents are the primary caretakers. So, we just want to come alongside them, journey with them, and partner with them, and say 'Hey, let us be your child's first sleepover, let us be your extended family.'"
It's a mission Bishop hopes now, with a bit more exposure, can reach more families in the Michiana community who can either benefit from their services, or just know it's here.
"If Luke Combs can understand what it might be to be a parent of a medically fragile child, to really understand and wrap his arms around a mission like this, that inspires me that the broader community here in Michiana will understand getting behind this and really exploring what this mission is, exploring who these children are," Bishop says.
Hopefully by next month, children that visit A Rosie Place will be able to enjoy a brand-new, state-of-the-art art studio.
Bishop says it's their latest project in bringing a whole new world of opportunities for medically fragile children.