Cape Breton coal miners' chorus, The Men of the Deeps, is looking for financial help to secure its future.
"We're growing; costs are increasing; demand is increasing. Some of the travel costs are higher," Shane MacLeod, president of the chorus, told CBC News.
The Men of the Deeps, North America's only choir of miners, have sung about Cape Breton's mining history since 1966 and become international ambassadors for the island.
But the mines in Cape Breton closed several years ago, so the mine companies that helped support it have gone.
And the choir's other main source of money, the Cape Breton Development Corp., or Devco, has served notice it will no longer provide the $10,000 a year it usually gives the group.
So the choir, comprised of 30 working and retired miners, is looking further afield for funding to help it meet costs that continue to rise.
Men of the Deeps needs a three to five-year financial plan so the group can concentrate on performing, instead of money, MacLeod said.
"This is not an emergency crisis; this is long range planning is what it is — just to ensure the longevity of the group, the future. There's no crisis here," MacLeod said.
Devco says it is no longer able to support the chorus, but it is willing to use its influence to try to attract new supporters.
"The biggest way we're going to be able to help them is introducing them to corporate and community sponsors," said Devco president Ross McCurdy.
The Men of the Deeps give upwards of 70 performances a year.
They have travelled across Canada with Rita MacNeil, and plan a concert tour in the U.S., as well as making appearances in Cape Breton in support of local charities.
Angus MacMullin speaks for the Cape Breton Miners' Museum, where the chorus performs once a week.
The singing miners are a living testimonial to Cape Breton's 350-year history of coal mining, he said.
"The Men of the Deeps carry this message internationally. They've travelled to Asia, they've travelled all over the United States and Canada," he said.
"And they're one of the entertainers whose sole purpose is to promulgate a message that mining, and the miners and their lifestyle, can never be forgotten."
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