Volunteers at the 2024 Rock for CHOICES concert, which returns to Woodland’s Backyard Saturday. Credit: Courtesy of Leslie Alexander
Lutheran Social Services CHOICES will hold the second annual Rock for CHOICES benefit concert at Woodlands Backyard, located at 668 Grandview Ave., Saturday. Doors open at 6 p.m. and the concert will begin at 7 p.m.
The benefit concert aims to raise $50,000, all of which will go towards funding LSS CHOICES, Franklin County’s only domestic violence focused shelter, allowing them to continue supporting and sheltering victims.
Leslie Alexander, member of the Rock for CHOICES committee and Columbus-based rock duo The Lucky Penny sisters — who will perform at the benefit — said the shelter has many different ways of helping victims and their children.
“This is our second year doing the benefit for CHOICES and every single dime that we raise goes directly to them,” Alexander said. “They have an amazing amount of resources for pretty much any situation you can imagine — from legal help to medical assistants, to getting people clothing items [or] their very first space independently from a bad situation.”
Alexander said she believes there has never been a more important time to host this event, especially as domestic violence incidents in Columbus saw an increase in 2024, according to a Dispatch article. The article states 18% of the 124 reported homicides last year were a result of domestic violence.
“We really wanted to focus on a female-fronted and a female-empowering place that resonated with our community and unfortunately, domestic violence disturbances are on the rise,” Alexander said. “That’s everywhere, but definitely in Columbus as well, which is really disheartening.”
Although Alexander said the committee itself is run solely by women, the shelter is open to all victims of domestic violence regardless of gender.
Alexander said there will also be a silent auction with nearly 90 items — all donated by individuals and local businesses. She said they’re on track to meet — and potentially exceed — their goal, as they’re already 73% of the way there.
“The gamut is so huge, and it’s super incredible to see how generous people have been once they hear about what we’re doing and the previous success that we’ve had moving into this year,” Alexander said. “We’re absolutely going to smash our goal, which is fantastic. It’s been an incredible community effort.”
Gabrielle Johnston, also a member of the committee, said it’s rewarding to see how their efforts help other women.
“I think that it’s been amazing — the fact that we’re raising money for women that don’t have these luxuries,” Johnston said. “[Women] that haven’t been able to be in a blessed life or they were and then they weren’t, and seeing survivors and how we’re helping them.”
Johnston said they set up an Amazon wish list and every item on it has been purchased by donors.
“People that wanted to donate but maybe couldn’t donate as much or didn’t have a lot of cash could purchase things off our list,” Johnston said. “It was great. We had just the right amount of people saying ‘Hey I can buy this, I can buy that.’”
Alexander said the event will highlight female musicians from Columbus.
“This year, we decided to spin it a little differently to really drive home the focus on the incredible talent that we have in the Columbus music scene as far as female musicians [go],” Alexander said. “So we have over 30 female instrumentalists and vocalists that will basically rotate throughout the night.”
A minimum donation of $15 is required for admission. More information about the 2025 Rock for CHOICES concert can be found on the event’s website. For information on LSS CHOICES and the services they provide, visit their website.
