By Carly Gaspari
Staff Writer
What began as a way to aid the country has become a way to support a Costa sophomore. The annual Library Benefit Concert, a student-sponsored charity event, is being revived with the return of Mira Costa English teacher William Brown.
The upcoming concert will be held on April 17 in the Mira Costa library and will be dedicated to raise funds for a Costa sophomore who is currently battling brain cancer. The proceeds from the benefit concert will be donated to pediatric brain tumor research at the Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles.
“I have known him for seven years, and as soon as I heard about him having cancer, I knew I wanted to do something about it,” concert emcee sophomore Kenzie De Baets said.
Brown and his students originally created the concert in 2001 to raise money for the victims of 9/11 but began holding them yearly for different causes until Brown’s departure from Costa in 2008. Now that Brown is back at Costa, this is the first year that he has held the fundraiser for a cause other than 9/11.
“We all want to feel connected with something outside of school, something bigger than ourselves,” Brown said. “I think we create a community of like-minded individuals who want to care, and I would like to think of it as education in action.”
The benefit show will be free for those who attend. During the show, a hat will be passed around the audience for attendees to donate any sum of money, especially if they feel as though they connect or are impressed with a particular number that was performed.
“I hope that the benefit show is enjoyable,” De Baets said. “I know that sounds bad, but our goal is not to make people sad or depressed with the idea of cancer. Our main hope is for people to come and enjoy the performances, and I want the people who are performing at the event to have fun.”
De Baets and sophomore Kim Arasimowicz are in are charge of planning the event. Throughout the evening, students and faculty members, such as sophomores Michael LoCascio and Zack Zeoli, Brown, English teacher Alan Zeoli and Vice Principal Jaime Mancilla will all be performing and
participating in the event.
“I wanted to participate because I’ll take any opportunity to be able to perform in front of people because I just love it so much,” LoCascio said. “Hearing that the benefit show will be for our fellow Mustang really makes me want to do a good job and try to support him and his battle to the best of my abilities.”
According to Brown, anyone, no matter his or her performing background, is welcome to participate in the benefit concert or attend for support.
“I enjoy students coming together and working as a community for a cause,” Brown said. “Students who do not perform also work in the background by organizing the event, moving and setting up the equipment and collecting and counting the collections.”
Brown has high hopes to continue the concerts throughout his coming years at Costa. He is currently focusing on the details of this benefit show in order to make it the most successful it can possibly be.
“I hope a lot of people attend because I think that it would really mean a lot to the student and his family,” LoCascio said. “It would be really supportive for us to come together as a school.”
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