The Community Alliance for Progressive Positive Action (CAPPA) has invited The New Stylistics to return to Williamsport in the organization’s first fundraiser since 2017.

The New Stylistics, with their original singer Russell Thompkins Jr., will take the stage with special guest Eddie Holman at the Community Arts Center at 7:30 p.m. on May 24. All proceeds benefit the youth outreach and enrichment programs that CAPPA spearheads.

“The Stylistics are back by popular demand,” CAPPA founder and executive director Loni Gamble said. “2015 was the last time they were here and it was our most successful fundraiser. They were willing to come back and do that again for CAPPA. We need to raise funds to continue the mission.”

The fundraiser is a full-circle moment for Gamble, who discovered guitar through a program like CAPPA — a lifelong journey that included touring with the Stylistics himself.

“CAPPA is a replication of what I was exposed to as a teenager and all of those guys in the band grew up in the same neighborhood as me,” Gamble said. “They had the same advantages that inspired all of us to do what we’re doing.”

Gamble started playing with the Stylistics in 1980 and did two world tours with the band. “I remember when I got the gig with them. I am getting ready to be gone for months on a world tour,” Gamble said. “And I am looking back on what brought me to that moment. I remember the skills I learned at a community center and now here I was working as a professional musician about to play with the Stylistics.”

In 2002, Gamble started CAPPA to be that same source of inspiration and passion for others in the community that his life was so changed by.

“When I started CAPPA it took me right back to that moment about to board the plane,” Gamble said. “If you invest in kids, the community always benefits from that in the long run. Knowing I could go somewhere, that I could do something, I’ve always wanted to be a part of sharing that with youth in my community. Now, I have the opportunity to do that.”

Tickets for the CAPPA fundraiser are available through the Community Arts Center.