Lance Jones has been into music from an early age when he began imitating Elvis Presley with a $5.00 toy guitar and some lip-syncing and hip shaking in front of his parents’ friends. And, of course, he then fell for The Beatles, like millions of others of his generation did. He believes it was then that he lost all self-control and became an unshackled collector of albums as well as an avid devourer of music magazines. In his post-college career stops, music turned out to be a common thread; in fact, it was his through-line. In the thirty-year period following his graduation from Penn State in 1975, he found himself in employment positions in music retail and/or music marketing, then booking concerts for the Pittsburgh Civic Arena and then managing a major outdoor music venue, Star Lake Amphitheatre.
Lance was lucky enough to find a partner who shared his love of music and together, they turned it into action in support of our community. “My late wife, Margot Gloninger Jones (1952-2007), and I started doing fundraising events in 2006. We chose the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank as our beneficiary for a couple of reasons: 1) We were well aware of the good work that GPCFB was doing throughout the region, and 2) by then we had met the gracious and inspiring co-founder and CEO of the organization, Joyce Rothermel, through my wife’s sister Mimi Lahoda,” Lance shared.
What began as a viewing party for friends in 2002 with the purchase of the just-released DVD of Martin Scorsese’s film The Last Waltz, the music documentary about The Band’s 1976 farewell concert appearance, soon turned into something bigger. ”We invited about six couples over to our house, crammed chairs into our small living room and watched it from start to finish. At some point our friends began clapping after certain songs, as if they had forgotten they weren’t really at a live show – and I remember Margot and I thinking afterward, ‘Hmmmm, there’s something happening here and what it is ain’t exactly clear.’ But then it became quite clear.”
Lance and Margot soon transformed their simple social visit into a music-centered fundraising event with the Food Bank as their beneficiary. “This event had a great run; the first one was in November 2006 and it continued for thirteen more years, ending in November 2019. “In 2020 then,” Lance said, “I launched the current online fundraising campaign Tunes for Tables, which will conclude in September 2025 after a six-year run. In the challenging times that we are in right now, the need ‘out there’ in our communities is particularly heightened—and so we are hoping that this final Tunes for Tables campaign (September 15-21) will be a record breaker!”
Since 2020, Lance Jones’ Tunes for Tables fundraiser has raised more than $184,000 for Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank. We owe a special note of gratitude to the William Talbott Hillman Foundation who has served as our matching donor (2021-2025) and has donated $125,000 of the aforementioned grand total to the organization themselves.
For the sixth and final year, Lance Jones will lead his annual fundraiser to benefit Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank – memory of Margot Gloninger Jones – from September 15th through September 21st. This year, Tunes for Tables has set a goal of $15,000 to raise through all of the incoming donations during this special one-week campaign.
We encourage all Pittsburghers (food bank supporters of all stripes, musicians and non-musicians alike!) to join us in this final year of Tunes for Tables as we seek to make this year our greatest year yet. Visit pittsburghfoodbank.org/tunes to make your gift today!
Interested in starting your own fundraiser? Reach out to us at [email protected]