HURON — In what has become a mark-your-calendar, save-the-date holiday tradition, the Student United Way-HYLC recently announced their planned concert/fundraiser for this Christmas season.

This year’s concert is set to feature the Huron group Trinity Hill - with natives Jaime O’Neill and Sylvia Kattner - along with other Huron High School alumni special guests Karlie Bigelow, Tony Hulst & Friends, Jonathan Blom and Jamison Gross.

The curtain will rise on this holiday extravaganza at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 22, at the Huron High School Auditorium and it is free to the public. A freewill donation will be accepted at the concert.

The event is the sole fundraiser for the Student United Way - HYLC, which turns around and grants all funds it receives back into the community. To help defray costs of the concert - and thus have more funds to grant to local groups and organizations, HYLC is seeding sponsors for the event. Information on donor amounts and levels can be found at the end of this story.

“When we found out that the Hegg Brothers and Friends, which has been doing the concert for the past few years, was not available this year, we opted to look closer to home,” said Roger Puterbaugh, the president of HYLC.

“It is something new to the community and what better to raise money for youth organizations in the area than by having a concert that features young people from the area?” said Maggie Knippling, one of six HYLC executive board members.

Later this spring, HYLC will announce the grant recipients for the year. Grants are capped at $500 and despite not having a concert last year due to the pandemic, the student group was able to fund the maximum to many groups last spring.

2020 grants were presented to Girls on the Run, the Huron Public Library’s Summer Reading Program, Pheasants Forever, BelieveFest, Destination Imagination, the Children’s Transportation Fund, the Middle School Book Program and also went to fund an HYLC scholarship.

If you noticed that all of the grant recipients are geared toward youth in the area, that’s part of the goal.

“We look at need and at organizations that give back to youth in the community,” said exec board member Jake Holforty. “We think of it as youth giving back to youth.”

Board member Gonzalo Quispe Laura said the thing he was most looking forward to at the concert was actually having one, after last year’s event was cancelled.

There is another connection to this year’s featured act as well, as Sylvia Kattner was a member of HYLC when she was an HHS student.

“Everyone who attends will know the people on the stage,” Knippling said. “They’re all from here!”

Knippling, a senior, said she joined HYLC as a freshman for two reasons - she wanted to help out with that year’s Hegg Brothers concert and because “Jake’s mom told me to!”

The Holforty family connection goes a step further for Jake, a junior. He said he joined because his sister was involved in the community and he was inspired to do the same.

Likewise, Puterbaugh, has a strong family connection to HYLC and he embraced the opportunity to volunteer and to help out youth in the area, noting that the group volunteers with Meals on Wheels and with the community’s Back Pack Program.

Quispe Laura added that HYLC has begun mentoring youth after school as well and he was encouraged to join by his brother, who graduated. “We are also involved in fundraising for the Humane Society and help them with their projects,” he said.

Elizabeth Estrada, a junior on the board, said that when she was a freshman, she joined many activities to find what she really enjoyed. “I just couldn’t quit HYLC,” she said. “I have learned about the community and how I can help it.” Estrada said that student involvement also includes holding seats on various boards, and providing a youth point of view.

Tori Buffington is the sixth HYLC executive board member. HYLC in Huron has approximately 40 members.

If you would like to be a sponsor for the Trinity Hill and Friends Concert and fundraiser for HYLC on Dec. 22, contact Jen Bragg with the United Way - Heartland Region.

Sponsorships have five funding levels from $100 up to $2,500 and include reserved seating for the concert, recognition in the program and more, depending on the level of contribution.