By Rebecca Maitland

nyone who has attended events or fundraisers in Fort Bend County has probably heard singer Gail Best perform. Throughout the past years, she has continued to support nonprofits by performing and singing without charge, which is her way of giving back to the community she loves. But now it is Best that needs a helping help, and we hope you ’ll help.

Best has been thrilling audiences with her easy listening classic rock and country, rhythm and blues, and all of the favorites for more than a decade, but then her full-time job and her career in the mortgage industry went south.

In looking at her options, Best chose to become a full time singer, something she says she loves, something she is passionate about. In the recent past, she performed at Magic Island Restaurant. However, after the
restaurant burned, Best was once again looking for a new professional home and her financial struggles returned. About three months ago, she began performing at Fernando ’s Latin Cuisine, in the old Ruth’s Chris Steak House in Sugar Land, on Friday nights.

“But now, Best is in school to become a music practitioner to work with hospice and Alzheimer ’s patients, and she only has three more classes to go, but she is struggling to pay for them, struggling to make ends meet. After all she has done for so many in this community, I hope we can all step up to help her now to insure she meets her goal, ” said Candace Cagle, Sugar Land resident and president-elect of the Exchange Club of Fort Bend.

The Beginning 

Best is serving as a hospice volunteer at Silverado Hospice in Sugar Land, learning all she can about the industry she wants to be a part of and taking as many singing jobs as she can find.

“When my grandmother was in hospice, I sat by her side and I sang to her, which brought her peace. It was somewhere in one of those long nights that I knew this was my calling, it was what I was meant to do on this earth. That ’s when I registered for the first class,” Best said.

“There is so much wisdom in these wheelchairs, yet these people feel forgotten and when they hear a tune they know, a spark comes back, ” Best said.

Gail’s Future

“There is a real skill in therapeutic music. For example, when working with hospice patients you don ’t want to play anything they know because familiar songs bring back memories, which they might want to hold on to and these patients are trying to let go. There are many other things like this that takes training, ” Best said.

Due to medical regulations, Best needs the education to draw a paycheck as a music practitioner, and until then she is doing what she can to survive by picking up work wherever she can.

Music practitioners are extremely popular on the east and west coasts and are one of the most sought after and in demands jobs in these regionsbecause the medical community acknowledges the difference these professionals make with patients.

Supporting the Community

Many senior citizens continue to be forgotten, but Best wants to make sure they are not. Her goal is to be able to volunteer at many of the low-income nursing homes, where Best says they need entertainment as much if not more than anyone. But that dream is a distant goal, one that will come to fruition after she has a steady job again.  

“When Gail is at a nursing home, she doesn’t just sing and leave. She takes time going around the room, talking to the seniors, spending time with them and brightening their day. She lets them know they are not forgotten and someone cares, ” Cagle said.

Some of the members of the Exchange Club Cagle is involved with have pledged funds to help Best finish her education, so she can continue doing what she loves, which is making a difference in Fort Bend County.  

“Gail needs approximately $3,000 to complete her courses, and I know Fort Bend County can handle that. Wouldn ’t it be great if, as a community, we helped a neighbor and fellow baby boomer get her education and get back on her feet? We could all go to her graduation and know, as a community, we made it happen. Gail is such a wonderful person, she gives so much to Fort Bend, I don ’t know anyone more deserving,” Cagle said.

Donations in any amount can be sent to Gail Best, 1523 Martin Lakes Dr., Richmond, TX 77406 or e-mail Best at gail-best@earthlink.net.