Bread & Roses, a women’s choral group that combines its love of singing with a desire to benefit good causes, will present its spring concert at 3 p.m. Sunday, April 26, in Westminster Presbyterian Church in DeKalb. The concert’s beneficiary will be the DeKalb County Chapter of the American Red Cross.

Several selections were written and composed by two of the group’s members, including “Summer Dreams” by Lynn Fisher McCanne, and “Leaf Dance” by Jenny Covert.

McCanne, a member of the Unitarian Universalist Society of Geneva, often provides music services at the Geneva church, where Pat Vary, another B&R member, directs the youth choir.

The group's eclectic mix of music includes an Ecuadorian panpipe melody, “La Lluvia” (The Rain), and a song rejoicing the return of spring, “Kore Evohe” (Hail, Kore), as well as old standards such as jazz favorite “Summertime” and the ever-optimistic “It’s a Wonderful World.” The performance will celebrate the Earth and its seasons, from spring’s promise of rebirth and rejuvenation to the clarity of a cold winter’s day.

The name Bread & Roses comes from a song written in support of a women union’s strike in the early 1900s. The women’s call for “bread and roses” symbolized their desire not only for fair wages to feed their bodies, but for an opportunity to enjoy the good things in life to feed their hearts. The group is directed by Peggy Safford.

Westminster Presbyterian Church is at 830 N. Annie Glidden Road. Suggested donation is $10 for general admission seating, $5 for children younger than 12

For more information about Bread & Roses, call (815) 758-4897 or visit www.breadandroseschorus.org.

The DeKalb County Red Cross offers food, shelter and medicine during disasters such as the floods of the past two summers, individual family home fires and the Northern Illinois University tragedy.

The Red Cross also offers health and safety classes to the community, as well as services to members of the Armed Forces. According to Red Cross Marketing Director Rochelle Cripe, the local chapter does not receive assistance from the government, but relies on the generosity of the communities it services.

For more information about the DeKalb County Red Cross, call (815) 756-7339 or visit www.dekalbillinois.redcross.org.