My Nonprofit Reviews

You may want to discount my review, as my daughter, Camille Zamora, is the person who founded Sing for Hope, and taught her Dad and Mom what giving to the community is about. When Camille she graduated from music school in 1991, she returned to Houston, our home, and continued to work on her voice, supporting herself by teaching students. She also decided to do volunteer work at a local AIDS hospice, changing beds and attending to dying patients. It was still early in the AIDS epidemic, and we were concerned that she might become infected (ignorant as most members of the public were back then). But the AIDS hospice, Omega House, was such a caring, well-run agency that our fears quickly subsided. She worked at Omega House for a couple years, and when her best friend from high school -- another talented singer -- contracted AIDS, he was admitted to Omega House, where he died a peaceful death. As her friend Frank neared death, Camille decided to organize a benefit to support Omega House, and she convinced a few other singers to join her in the effort. The first event was small, but raised several thousand dollars. Every year since then, she has organized a benefit for Omega House, and that benefit -- Sing for Hope -- has grown into a major effort to benefit AIDS patients throughout the Houston area. This annual benefit raised over $300,000 per year to benefit Bering Omega Community Services. When Camille moved to New York, she continued her annual Houston benefit, but decided to try to replicate it. With her good friend, fellow singer Monica Yunus, she founded Sing for Hope, to support arts activism nationally. So, again, you may wish to discount my rave review, considering the Proud Papa factor. Even discounted, however, it's a pretty amazing story. I won't detail all that Sing for Hope does, but it has tapped a vein of outstanding artists who want to give to their communities -- a unique thing, and for that reason it has been so successful

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