SURVIVING CANCER On CD, kids relay notes of hope

The song's lyrics were written by a cancer survivor.
By WILLIAM K. ALCORN
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- "Relay The Message" they sing, flashing winning smiles and blending sweet, hopeful young voices that bring a message of hope.
A choir of kids between 5 and 17 who are cancer survivors or friends and family of cancer survivors, sang in public for the first time last week the song they recorded in October to raise cancer awareness.
The choir, ROCK (Raising Our Commitment to Cancer Kids), joined by a trio of their adult friends who composed the moving tune and lyrics, had their public coming-out performance at Forum Health Northside Medical Center's auditorium.
An audience of friends, parents, siblings, grandparents, teachers and hospital staff watched through tears and smiles as the kids sang their message for the cameras:
Relay the Message.
Look to the children, a gift from above
They'll teach us the way with love.
Just a dream a survivor holds, sprinkled with faith,
Never giving up, on ourselves or you.
Trust without a doubt, Remember what it's all about.
There's hope in what we do.
Relay the message,
Relay the message,
Relay the message,
Life so precious ... grows."
Fun for her
One ROCK member, 7-year-old Kaitlyn Dietz of North Jackson, said she had fun making the CD.
"I helped her feel better," Kaitlyn said of her aunt, Brenda Rider, who is a cancer survivor.
Another ROCK member,7-year-old Dasia Flenoury of Youngstown, a cancer survivor herself, said she thinks the song will help people "remember that it's OK," and make them feel better.
Dasia said she had fun singing and made some new friends, especially Kaitlyn.
The lyrics and melody for & quot;Relay the Message & quot; were written by Rider, of North Jackson. Her song was arranged with help from local musicians Paul Skowron and Janeen Williams.
First meeting
The trio, which calls itself 3 World Music Entertainers, first met at an American Cancer Society Relay for Life fund-raising event in Austintown.
Rider's vision is that enough money be raised from the sale of the single-song "Relay the Message" CD to produce a full-length CD from songs and poems and stories submitted by community residents touched by cancer.
Although not all the submissions will be used on a CD, it is Rider's hope that all of the items submitted be incorporated into a book.
Proceeds from the CD sale and the planned book will go to the American Cancer Society and the pediatric cancer program at Forum Health Tod Children's Hospital.
The only stipulation on submissions is that they be upbeat and show the positive that can come from something bad, Rider said.
In the choir
ROCK choir members are Nicole DeSantis of Hermitage, Pa.; Kaitlyn and Dasia; Nick Grimm of Leavittsburg; Katie, Louis and Peter Hayes of Boardman; Hilliary and Will Hill of Poland; twins Donald and Joseph Horton of Campbell; Alex and Dominic Mayle of Canfield; Jessica Moorehead of Austintown; Dallas Patterson of Youngstown; and Meridith Reffner of Poland.
alcorn@vindy.com