Moody Blues Fan Donations Raise $3200 for Variety- The Children’s Charity
Variety— The Children’s Charity is benefiting from the first ever tour of New Zealand by classic rock icons The Moody
Blues in more ways than one.
The band authorized a one-of-a-kind autographed tour poster to be auctioned with 100% of the proceeds benefiting
Variety. After 10 days on eBay, the print sold for $1465, the highest price ever for a Moody Blues item and one of the
highest bids in ebay history for a signed tour poster.
Maggie Grayson, a US-based fan of the Moody Blues, designed and administered the auction website as her donation to the
charity. “We had hoped the poster would attract the faithful Moody fans and it did. But we were surprised and thrilled
with the amount it brought,” Grayson said. She added that bids came from all over the world, not just the US. “Variety
is a wonderful cause and the band gave this project their full support.”
Justin Hayward, founding member of the Moody Blues, was quite astonished at the final bid amount. “Well I must say I was
pleasantly surprised. The band is honored to help Variety but it’s really our fans who made this happen.”
An additional and unexpected source of donations to Variety came from American Nancy Jussen, another long time fan and
supporter of the Moody Blues. She took it upon herself to establish a donation website for the multitude of fans that
could not afford to bid on the poster. “When the bids went over $700 on the first
day, I thought we should do something else to help Variety and give all the band’s loyal followers a way to contribute
to deserving children in New Zealand,” commented Jussen. …//More 2. Moody Blues Fan Donations Raise $3,200 for Variety-
The Children’s Charity
She posted the website for 2 weeks and collected $1735. “I’ve discovered over the years that Moody Blues fans,
regardless of where they live, are a generous lot and they responded with their hearts and money.”
Both Grayson and Jussen will be attending the NZ concerts and will be on hand, along with the winner of the poster, to
help The Moody Blues personally present checks to Variety while the group is in Wellington. The band will perform three
shows in NZ—April 21 & 22 in Wellington and April 24 in Christchurch.
Variety NZ Chief Executive, Elisa Willman, says the Charity is thrilled with the response to the auction and the effort
made by Moody Blues fans to raise extra money.
“We are touched by the generosity and kindness of the Moody Blues Fans and the band themselves,” said Willman. “The
auction, plus the fact that someone went out of their way to raise more money over top of the bidding, is very special.
What impresses us also is that all the money raised comes from people who live outside of New Zealand. We are very
grateful.”