Sophia’s Heart has shared video of Danny Gokey as he received his “home court hero” award recently at a home game of the Milwaukee Bucks.

In addition to giving the race team of half- and mini-marathoners a great sendoff, the event served the additional purpose of introducing songs from Danny’s new EP “Love Again” to an intimate audience of  fans and supporters. The event was held at the Compassion Nashville facility, with some residents able to join in the fun.

Over $10,000 was raised through the Run for Compassion in this first year, in no small part due to members of the iheart community.     Special congratulations to our own Pam and asics for leading the way in fundraising — to include beating a certain bespectacled singer  

Danny was joined by Brandon Fraley, Jamelle Fraley, and Matt Reviere — and by his four-legged friend “Sweet Pea” who made some cameo appearances during the evening

Danny and friends performed a number of acoustic songs, new and old, and played tracks from the new EP with commentary by Danny and Brandon. (Note: Since the EP will shortly be available for sale, we are only providing sample snippets from the recorded tracks that were played at the pre-release party.)

Let us know what you think about the new songs by leaving a comment — and, of course, be sure to pick up your personal copy of the full-length and full-quality songs as soon as the EP is available!

If you choose to buy the EP through iTunes, remember you can buy any iTunes items through the links to the right and support IHDG in the process.

Danny Gokey discussing his new EP

Love Again – song excerpt

Love Again – acoustic performance

Comments on Gimme a Kiss and Win Me Over – acoustic performance

Everything Works Together – intro and song excerpt (feat. Beckah Shae)

Intro to Second Hand Heart Remix

Second Hand Heart Remix – song excerpt
comment: audio quality is not good for this video compared to the actual recording

Faith Hope and Love – intro and song excerpt

Faith Hope and Love – song excerpt feat. choir

Faith Hope and Love – acoustic performance

PYT and You Are So Beautiful

I Need You acoustic performance (LeAnn Rimes cover)

I Still Believe Remix – intro and song excerpt feat Sophias Heart choir

Crazy Not To – acoustic performance

Gimme a Kiss Remix – song excerpt

Danny Gokey is Named a “Home Court Hero”

On Saturday, April 21^st, Sophia’s Heart founder and president, Danny Gokey was honored by the Milwaukee Bucks and KapCo Industries as their “Home Court Hero”.

KapCo and the Bucks honor an individual who, through their unique commitment and humanitarian spirit, have made exceptional and lasting contributions to the Milwaukee community.

Danny was selected for his dedication to Milwaukee for the establishment of Sophia’s Heart Foundation and its mission to mend and heal the hearts of children and families touched by poverty, sickness, disease, broken home and broken dreams. The Sophia’s Heart Choir and Dance Team joined Danny at center court for the reading of the award and Danny’s acceptance remarks. Danny thanked the Milwaukee community for their support, expressed his love for these special youth, and thanked the SHF volunteers for their time and energetic in support of Sophia’s Heart.

An added bonus was the performance of the Milwaukee based SHF Choir and Dance team in the East Lobby for an hour prior to the game.

Jan’s pre-script:

Ed, my sister, brother and law, and I were fortunate to watch the kids perform their high energy show prior to the game.  We perched on the stair way to the second level to the Bradley Center.  Of course, Ed wandered off.  And wouldn’t you know it,  as I was speaking to the hardworking choir staff, Jeff, Laura and Katie, in walks Danny.  He  posed for pictures with some cheerleaders, various fans and he spoke briefly with the choir. But the Bradley Center was not comfortable with Danny being generally “loose” among the crowd. So he was whisked away—but not before Danny came side to side with Ed.  A quick greeting and man hug ensued and Danny was off to the KapCo private suite.

And Ed’s power as a Danny magnet continues.

(Updated March 6, 2012)  Sophia’s Heart Foundation has announced its upcoming “Run for Compassion,” raising funds for the Compassion Nashville project in connection with April 28th’s Nashville marathon. A kickoff event will be held the prior evening, featuring an appearance by Danny Gokey.

If you’d be interested to join the runners who are participating for fun and to raise funding for Danny and SH’s efforts to assist the homeless in Nashville, you can register here for the race and here to create a personal fundraising page to share with your backers.

Run the full marathon, a half marathon, or (just added) a short but fun 2.6 mile “mini”-marathon, it’s up to you — and it all helps Sophia’s Heart!

Or, to support some of our iheart community members who will be putting their love for running and charity together for this event , you can support any of the fundraisers here, including our iheart friends milgokey (Karen), Pam, asics, Michelle, and Marjie whose direct page links are below. They would love to have your best wishes and support!

Karen and Steph – http://www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/sh-cmm-karenandsteph/race-for-sophias-heart

Pam and “asics” – http://www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/pamgeiken/race-for-sophias-heart

Michelle – http://www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/MichelleR/race-for-sophias-heart

Marjie - http://www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/sophiasheart/race-for-sophias-heart

Thanks Toni for the videos!

Brandon Fraley – Better When You Are Home

Gimme A Kiss

I Still Believe

Danny Gokey and Matt Giraud Table Dancing

Matt Giraud – Georgia

Matt Giraud – Hallelujah

Matt Giraud – Love, Love, Love

Danny Gokey and Matt Giraud – Hard To Handle

Danny Gokey and Matt Giraud sing Happy Birthday to Kat and Amanda

Back At One

Dream On

Maria Maria

Pretty Young Thing

Tiny Life

Don’t Stop Believing

Danny spoke about Sophia’s Heart, and announced some exciting personal news that he is now engaged to his girlfriend Leyicet, and looking forward to a January wedding. Congratulations Danny and Leyicet!

Danny and Leyicet request that anyone who would like to celebrate their occasion with a gift do so by donation to Sophia’s Heart.

You can read the official engagement announcement and donate HERE.

Watch Danny’s interview with Fox News below, and a separate, pretaped “Beyond the Dream” segment with Danny Gokey and Kelly Wright that aired Friday.

‘American Idol’ Contestant Gives Back via FoxNews.com


Former ‘Idol’ Pays Tribute to Late Wife by Serving the Poor via FoxNews.com

Downtown Milwaukee’s Shops of Grand Avenue has been the subject of several stories detailing businesses on their way out of the downtown area. In 2011, the mall has been welcoming new tenants including one with a connection to Milwaukee area American Idol star Danny Gokey.

Gokey is making a difference with his Sophia’s Heart Foundation, which offers performing arts and academic programs to benefit young people. He talked about the continuing effort and excitement while standing in Sophia’s new place at the Grand Avenue Mall.

The need and Grand Avenue’s available space have led to the development of the Creativity Works Here program that Grand Avenue’s Tracy Korpela says helps fill space at a negotiable rate.

Read the full article: http://www.fox6now.com/news/witi-20110927-grand-ave-creativity,0,6945825.story

Ncompass Nashville and GourmetZing Cafe are throwing the second annual Rock Away the Blues benefit concert on September 14, 2011 at Limelight, with last year’s headliner rock legend Mickey Thomas and Danny Gokey.

Benefitting Sophia’s Heart, advance tickets are only $15, $20 at the door.

Rock Away The Blues
Rock Away the Blues 2nd Annual Benefit Concert
Wednesday, September 14, 2011 at 7:00 PM
Limelight Concert and Events Center
201 Woodland St.
Nashville, TN 37213
Phone: (800) 595-6269

Danny Gokey will be joining Lisa Rinna as a celebrity guest speaker at the “All About You” Women’s Expo September 24th at Milwaukee’s Frontier Airlines Center.

Come and Meet from Season Eight of American Idol, Danny Gokey in a Sophia’s Heart Event Saturday, September 24th at the It’s All About You Expo.

Tickets go on sale July 15th.

via http://www.allaboutyouexpo.info/

To support Sophia’s Heart today, consider a donation to the Sophia L. Gokey scholarship fund, through the fundraising drive sponsored by SH volunteer and iheart poster Jan. Her goal is to raise funds for three SH scholarships, she’s over halfway there but can still use more help!

Just confirmed by Sophia’s Heart and the travel company handling Danny Gokey’s 2012 concert cruise for Sophia’s Heart:

Artist added to the Danny Gokey Cruise
benefiting Sophia’s Heart
February 2, 2012
Gary LeVox
Lead singer for Rascal Flatts

What could be more fun than joining a cruise with Danny and one of his favorite singers!  Learn more about Gary and Rascal Flatts country super-group at www.rascalflatts.com.

The cruise departs from Miami February 2nd, 2012, for several days of fun, music, and travel to Mexico and back!

Book now at:  Travelin Inc

via SophiasHeart on Youtube

If you’re attending any of the 11 days of Summerfest (Milwaukee, WI) this year, including Danny’s July 6th concert at the Briggs & Stratton Big Backyard with Coors Light and Tap Milwaukee stage, buy your tickets through THIS LINK to benefit Sophia’s Heart.

This year Summerfest is partnering with non-profit organizations to assist them with fundraising. Through this program you, your family and friends can purchase and print your Summerfest tickets online and help raise money for your preferred non-profit organization at the same time.

For every $15.00 General Admission ticket you purchase on this website, Summerfest will donate $3.00 to your selected participating non-profit organization. For every $8 weekday ticket you purchase on this website, Summerfest will donate $2 to your non-profit organization.

via: https://summerfest.ezinstanttickets.com/B2C/Fundraising/support_organization.aspx?code=sophiasheart

Vote Here

Join Sophia’s Heart Foundation volunteers and our community of Danny Gokey fans and supporters from iheartdannygokey.com today in the last special online “voting party” event to help Sophia’s Heart win a $30,000 first-place grant from WaterStone Bank! (Second through fifth place finishers win $15,000 each.)

In these difficult economic times, this is an awesome opportunity for SH to win precious funding for programs dear to Danny’s heart and charitable vision. Voting ends today, so let’s make sure Sophia’s Heart comes out on top!

It’s also a chance to win some cool prizes from SH, simply for voting!  International fans, please join in if you can! All are welcome

Here is the announcement from Sophia’s Heart.

Sophia’s Heart is hosting a special Voting Party today from noon to midnight CST.  Danny Gokey’s #1 Fan site www.iheartdannygokey.com will be co-hosting the event with us to help promote the event and encourage as many fans and supporters as possible to join us in voting.

All fans and supporters who vote with us during the voting party can register to win fun prizes from Sophia’s Heart which will be given away in a random drawing. Watch for special announcements during the voting party!

Voters can register to win in the following ways:

• Sophia’s Heart Facebook page – Under our Voting Party – post the number of times or how long you voted to be entered into a random drawing to win a fun thank you prize, or email facebook@sophiasheart.org!
• Sophia’s Heart Twitter – Tweet @sophiasheart during the Voting Party and let us know the number or how long you voted for Sophia’s Heart.
• www.iheartdannygokey.com – Post a comment below at the IHDG Sophia’s Heart Voting Party page and let us know the number of times you voted or how long you voted. Or email ihrtdannygokey@gmail.com.

Be sure to follow @sophiasheart and @ihrtdannygokey on twitter for updates and encouragement during the event.

Votes will be counted and winners will be notified by Sophia’s Heart! Thank you in advance for your support!

Please vote with us to the finish line in this worldwide voting party. We’re in the lead, let’s stay there!

Some of our voters have found they can contribute many hundreds of votes with focused effort in an hour, even reaching thousands of votes in a day — so let’s all see SH’s lead build to win that extra $15,000 for much needed programs for disadvantaged children and families.

This should be fun and exciting … Let’s vote! Remember, Danny has been voting too!

Questions? Leave us a comment below or in today’s iheartdannygokey.com Discussion page, and we’ll do our best to answer.

Vote Here

Vote with Us for Sophia’s Heart!

]]> http://iheartdannygokey.com/index.php/2011/04/30/last-day-voting-party-today-with-prizes-for-sophia%e2%80%99s-heart/feed/ 97 http://iheartdannygokey.com/index.php/2011/04/23/hot-opry-night-danny-gokey-voting-party-tonight-with-prizes-for-sophia%e2%80%99s-heart/ http://iheartdannygokey.com/index.php/2011/04/23/hot-opry-night-danny-gokey-voting-party-tonight-with-prizes-for-sophia%e2%80%99s-heart/#comments Sat, 23 Apr 2011 19:44:38 +0000 Steph http://iheartdannygokey.com/?p=23726 Listen to Danny on the Opry Tonight

Chat & Vote with Us for Sophia’s Heart!

Vote Here

Listen Here

Danny Gokey will be performing tonight at the Grand Ole Opry (7:00-7:30 CST), and celebrating his 31st birthday this weekend!  We will be listening at wsmonline.com and chatting here to celebrate Danny’s performance and birthday while voting up a storm all night  for his charity Sophia’s Heart.

Join Sophia’s Heart Foundation volunteers and our community of Danny Gokey fans and supporters from iheartdannygokey.com tonight in this fourth special online “voting party” event to help Sophia’s Heart win a $30,000 first-place grant from WaterStone Bank! (Second through fifth place finishers win $15,000 each.) In these difficult economic times, this is an awesome opportunity for SH to win precious funding for programs dear to Danny’s heart and charitable vision.

It’s also a chance to win some cool prizes from SH, simply for voting! International fans, please join in overnight! All are welcome

Here is the announcement from Sophia’s Heart.

Sophia’s Heart is hosting a special Voting Party tonight from 6pm – midnight CST. Danny Gokey’s #1 Fan site www.iheartdannygokey.com will be co-hosting to help promote the event and encourage as many fans and supporters as possible to join us in voting tonight.

Our goal is to hit a minimum of 20,000 votes between 6pm – midnight! All fans and supporters who vote with us during the voting party can register to win one of five Sophia’s Heart tshirts in a cool new design not yet available anywhere else online!  And watch for special announcements during the voting party!

Voters can register to win in the following ways:

• Sophia’s Heart Facebook page – Under our Voting Party – post the number of times or how long you voted to be entered into the random prize drawing.
• Sophia’s Heart Twitter – Tweet @sophiasheart during the Voting Party and let us know the number or how long you voted for Sophia’s Heart.
• www.iheartdannygokey.com – Post a comment below at the IHDG Sophia’s Heart Voting Party page and let us know the number of times you voted or how long you voted. Or email ihrtdannygokey@gmail.com.

Be sure to follow @sophiasheart and @ihrtdannygokey on twitter for updates and encouragement during the event.

Votes will be counted and winners will be notified Monday by Sophia’s Heart! Thank you in advance for your support!

Please vote as many times as you possibly can with us tonight in this worldwide power voting party. Competition is fierce!  Questions on how to vote faster, ask us here – we can help

Some of our voters have found they can contribute many hundreds of votes with focused effort in an hour, even reaching thousands of votes in an evening — so let’s all work hard and see SH’s vote count race up and up!

This should be fun and exciting … Let’s vote! Remember, Danny is voting too!

Questions? Leave us a comment below or in today’s iheartdannygokey.com Discussion page, and we’ll do our best to answer.

ps – Email us at ihrtdannygokey@gmail.com with your iheart follower information from Facebook, twitter, or comment posts here and we may be able to forward you some voting tips to make your efforts as productive as possible

Vote Here

Vote with Us for Sophia’s Heart!

]]> http://iheartdannygokey.com/index.php/2011/04/23/hot-opry-night-danny-gokey-voting-party-tonight-with-prizes-for-sophia%e2%80%99s-heart/feed/ 134 http://iheartdannygokey.com/index.php/2011/04/17/hot-voting-party-tonight-with-prizes-for-sophia%e2%80%99s-heart-2/ http://iheartdannygokey.com/index.php/2011/04/17/hot-voting-party-tonight-with-prizes-for-sophia%e2%80%99s-heart-2/#comments Sun, 17 Apr 2011 17:56:27 +0000 Steph http://iheartdannygokey.com/?p=23613 Vote with Us for Sophia’s Heart!

Vote Here

Join Sophia’s Heart Foundation volunteers and our community of Danny Gokey fans and supporters from iheartdannygokey.com tonight in the third special online “voting party” event to help Sophia’s Heart win a $30,000 first-place grant from WaterStone Bank! (Second through fifth place finishers win $15,000 each.)

In these difficult economic times, this is an awesome opportunity for SH to win precious funding for programs dear to Danny’s heart and charitable vision.

It’s also a chance to win some cool prizes from SH, simply for voting!  International fans, please join in overnight! All are welcome

Here is the announcement from Sophia’s Heart.

Sophia’s Heart is hosting a special Voting Party tonight from 6pm – 10pm CST.  Danny Gokey’s #1 Fan site www.iheartdannygokey.com will be co-hosting the event tonight with us to help promote the event and encourage as many fans and supporters as possible to join us in voting tonight.

Our goal is to hit 10,000 votes between 6pm – 10pm! All fans and supporters who vote with us during the voting party can register to win one of five autographed DVDs of Danny’s television movie Truth Be Told (*) which will be given away in a random drawing. And watch for special announcements during the voting party!

Voters can register to win in the following ways:

• Sophia’s Heart Facebook page – Under our Voting Party – post the number of times or how long you voted to be entered into a random drawing to win a Sophia’s Heart T-Shirt.
• Sophia’s Heart Twitter – Tweet @sophiasheart during the Voting Party and let us know the number or how long you voted for Sophia’s Heart.
• www.iheartdannygokey.com – Post a comment below at the IHDG Sophia’s Heart Voting Party page and let us know the number of times you voted or how long you voted. Or email ihrtdannygokey@gmail.com.

Be sure to follow @sophiasheart and @ihrtdannygokey on twitter for updates and encouragement during the event.

Votes will be counted and winners will be notified Monday by Sophia’s Heart! Thank you in advance for your support!

Please vote as many times as you possibly can with us tonight in this worldwide power voting party. Competition is fierce!

Some of our voters have found they can contribute many hundreds of votes with focused effort in an hour, even reaching thousands of votes in an evening — so let’s all work hard and see SH’s vote count race up and up!

This should be fun and exciting … Let’s vote! Remember, Danny is voting too!

Questions? Leave us a comment below or in today’s iheartdannygokey.com Discussion page, and we’ll do our best to answer.

ps – Email us at ihrtdannygokey@gmail.com with your iheart follower information from Facebook, twitter, or comment posts here and we may be able to forward you some voting tips to make your efforts as productive as possible

Vote Here

Vote with Us for Sophia’s Heart!

(*) DVDs autographed by Danny Gokey will be provided after they become available for purchase through Walmart.com on or about May 31st.

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