House of Blues Cleveland played host to a sold-out Goo Goo Dolls concert that raised approximately $60,000 for a Ball State University scholarship Wednesday night. Profits will be donated to the Rebecca Reichert Scholarship for a senior music education major's tuition. May 2005 Ball State alumnus Rebecca Reichert died in October of tongue cancer. As her health deteriorated, Ball State faculty members and her parents began planning a scholarship to be given in her honor.The House of Blues benefit concert was an incredible success, Janet Reichert, Rebecca Reichert's mother, said. Preliminary figures suggest approximately $60,000 will be donated to the Rebecca Reichert scholarship, she said, which would bring the total amount of money raised to approximately $100,000.Fundraising efforts at Ball State have raised approximately $40,000, Janet Reichert said."A lot of the criteria is based on the student Becca was," Janet Reichert said in a previous interview. "[Rebecca] wanted the student to be established as a hard worker and motivated, a person that wanted to teach, not a performer with a teaching back-up plan."Production Coordinator for House of Blues Cleveland Chris Borne said 1,200 people attended the show. An auction was held to raise additional money for the scholarship. Among the items auctioned were two-round trip tickets to any location and two guitars which had been played by members of the Goo Goo Dolls, Janet Reichert said. One guitar was purchased for $10,000 and the men that purchased it donated an additional $5,000, Janet Reichert said. Companies selling merchandise at the show will also donate a portion of their profits to the scholarship, she said.The Goo Goo Dolls were not requested to play the benefit concert. Drummer Mike Malinin is dating a woman who was close friends with Rebecca Reichert. The band stopped at Reichert's house and suggested the idea of a benefit concert said she thought it was wonderful.
"Talking to [Rebecca] I found out that the scholarship is one of her last wishes," Malinin said in a previous interview. "The idea of a show came up and I looked at the schedule and we had two days off."Malinin said the Goo Goo Dolls would not make a profit from the concert.
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