Concert to raise funds to fight cancer

SPECIAL TO THE VINDICATOR

McDONALD — The Simply Singles Group of Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church, 618 Ohio Ave., will sponsor a concert by the R.O.C.c.K. children’s choir at 6:30 p.m. May 16.

R.O.C.c.K. stands for “Raising Our Commitment to cancer Kids.” The second “c” is not capitalized because the group aims to make the painful effects of cancer small compared to what can be gained from the survival experience, said Brenda Rider, 37, of Austintown, the group’s founder. The choir consists of 24 children who are cancer patients, survivors, relatives and those touched by cancer usually between age 4 and 17.

The choir is sponsored by Rider’s organization, A Way With Words Foundation, which uses music, poetry and art to help those touched by cancer survive and cope with the outcome. The choir performs to prove that there is life after cancer for a child or an adult.

The money made by the foundation makes it possible for the choir to spread the message and support cancer research. After the concert, refreshments will be served in the church hall.

There is no charge for the concert or social afterward, but a free-will offering will be collected for the benefit of the children and for cancer research.

For more information, call Irene Kunkel at (330) 530-5037, Ann McCarthy at (330) 530-2475 or Marlene Politano at (330) 530-1151 before Monday.