Rainbow PUSH joins Rich South Olympics bid

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Updated: February 21, 2012 8:38AM

The Rich South High School marching band has caught the ear of the Rev. Jesse Jackson.

Jackson is urging people to donate to the band which is trying to raise $300,000 so it can play in London in August during the Summer Olympic Games.

The band has raised $30,000, but needs $270,000 more, band director Y.L. Douglas said.

To bring attention to fund raising efforts, Jackson has invited the band to play at 10 a.m. Saturday at Rainbow PUSH Coalition headquarters on Chicago’s South Side as part of his weekly Internet broadcast.

Jackson “has a genuine interest in the Rich South High School band program,” Douglas wrote in an e-mail to band supporters.

Jackson learned of the challenge when the band’s Jazz Ensemble performed Monday at the annual Rainbow PUSH Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Legacy Breakfast, Douglas wrote.

“(The) Rev. Jesse Jackson challenged every politician — from Gov. Quinn and other state, federal, and municipal legislators — CEO’s of corporations, media, and others who have the ability to assist, to make getting to London a reality for the Rich South High School Band,” Douglas wrote.

“Jackson specifically asked if I could round up all the supporters of the Rich South High School band to be with him on this Saturday at Rainbow PUSH National Headquarters ... to launch a full scale campaign with U.S Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-California) and other invited guests,” Douglas wrote

A bus will leave Rich South at 8:30 a.m. Saturday and head to Rainbow PUSH headquarters, 930 E. 50th St. Chicago.

Support has been rolling in for the band from anonymous donors to proud alumni.

Last summer, after its 30th reunion, the Rich South Class of 1981 raised $3,000 for the band and presented it at the homecoming game in September.

“We were hoping to inspire the students to ‘pay it forward’ when they get older, which was our message at the assembly. Here’s hoping they reach their goal,” Mary Lou Cioffi wrote in an e-mail to a SouthtownStar reporter.