Musicians from four Olympia-area ensembles will take the stage Saturday, Sept. 26, and play for free to raise money for families battling cancer.

The "Autumn Prelude" chamber music concert begins at 7 p.m. at United Churches of Olympia, 110 11th Ave SE. Admission is by donation, with a suggested contribution of $30.

All proceeds go to the Mayday Foundation, a Thurston County nonprofit that helps cancer-affected families keep their lights on and their kids fed.

The JOLT first reported on the concert.

Julie Sandvig, an Olympia violinist and violin teacher, organized the event. She told the JOLT that a personal connection drove her to act. Her husband's first wife died of cancer at 39, and Sandvig met him while conducting a youth orchestra his daughter played in.

"I knew that her mother had passed away, and I saw her dad doing it all," Sandvig said. "It was impressive to see how much he had going on, and how he wanted to keep the kids' lives running as normally as possible."

When one of Sandvig's violin students had a mother going through a similar diagnosis, she began looking for ways to help. She turned to what she knows: music.

The concert lineup draws from the Olympia Symphony Orchestra, Olympia Chamber Orchestra and South Puget Sound Community College Orchestra.

Vox Olympia, a professional chamber choir founded in 2022, will also perform. Every musician is donating their time.

The Mayday Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, provides immediate financial help to families in Thurston, Lewis and Grays Harbor counties coping with cancer while raising children at home. The foundation covers rent, utilities, groceries and transportation, paying vendors directly on behalf of families.

Amy Rowley founded the organization in December 2017 after her own breast cancer diagnosis earlier that year. The foundation has served more than 80 local families, according to Rowley's LinkedIn profile, though that figure is undated. The foundation also creates opportunities for children in cancer-affected families to experience the arts, including violin lessons and ballet.

Social workers at Providence Regional Cancer System, Kaiser Permanente and Capital Medical Center refer eligible families to the program.

Donations can also be made online at maydayfoundation.org/donate.