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Charity Fest will benefit 4 causes
By Elise Franco
Austintown
Two local businessmen are throwing an end-of-the-summer bash to raise money for four deserving causes.
Jeff Lyda, owner of Party On!, and Christian Rinehart, owner of O’Donold’s Irish Pub and Grill, are working on a daylong event called Charity Fest to benefit four local causes — Brett Wilcox, Ed Port, the Sandor family and the Hogan family.
Lyda said all four recipients were chosen through word of mouth around Austintown.
Ed Port was diagnosed with neurofibromatosis type 2 early in his life, and from age 7 to 19, he underwent several surgeries. Tumors caused by the disease obscure one side of his face, affecting his sight and hearing on his left side.
Port said he is honored to be a part of the benefit and has been going around to area businesses himself asking for donations for all four causes.
He said he plans to attend the event so he can talk with those involved and make people aware of his condition.
Lyda said the Hogan family has four children — two with autism — and recently lost their Austintown home in a fire.
The Sandor family, also of Austintown, was chosen because their 3-year-old daughter recently died of congenital heart disease.
Lyda said he and Rinehart always get requests for donations to help community members in need and decided they wanted to go beyond a free meal or two.
“It always kind of gets you in the heart, and you feel like you can’t do enough,” Lyda said. “We wanted to do some type of summer party and make it an event to benefit multiple people.”
The event is Aug. 21 in the Austintown Plaza. Gates open at 1 p.m., and bands will play throughout the day and into the night, beginning at 2.
“Our goal in the first year was to help local families who are all different,” Lyda said. “Everybody has a different story to tell.”
The benefit will feature four live bands, including Youngstown’s ROCcK Children’s Choir, food vendors and games.
Tickets are $5 for anyone 11 years and older. Children 10 years and younger will be admitted for free, Lyda said. They’re available for purchase at Party On! in Niles and Austintown, O’Donold’s in Austintown and Everything Buckeyes in Eastwood Mall in Niles.
One of the beneficiaries, Brett Wilcox, 2, is battling acute myeloid leukemia that affects the healthy cells in bone marrow.
His grandmother, Beth Dobrindt of Austintown, said the entire family was overwhelmed when they found out Brett would be a part of Charity Fest.
“We are very humbled by all of this. We come from a family of giving,” she said. “This community has just come alive to help Brett. People we don’t even know are stepping up to help.”
Dobrindt said though Brett and his parents, Sharon and Don Wilcox, will be in Cincinnati for the next 31/2 months for Brett’s bone marrow transplant, the rest of the family will attend the event.
“We will absolutely be there,” she said. “This just overwhelms us. You can say thank you, but sometimes the words just don’t seem like it’s enough.”