The R.O.C.C.c.K. Children’s Choir rocks out to raise cancer awareness

By GRACE WYLER

gwyler@vindy.com

For Brenda Rider, the saying “once an adult and twice a child” has become an adage to live by. And as she directed the R.O.C.C.c.K. children’s choir in a song-and-dance performance at the Omni Manor Nursing Home Jan. 15, it was clear that Rider has no trouble unleashing her inner kid.

Rider, a 10-year survivor of breast cancer, is the founder of A Way With Words, a literary nonprofit that aims to convey a message of hope and empowerment to cancer survivors, as well as their friends and family. Throughout her bout with cancer and continued survival, she has used poetry and songwriting to help herself and others cope with cancer.

A Way With Words hopes to provide avenues of expression for cancer survivors, Rider said, especially after treatment. It also aims to generate resources for healing and surviving. The organization also works to increase awareness of cancer and raise money for cancer research and for survivors of cancer.

The R.O.C.c.C.K. — Raising Our Commitment to cancer Kid’s Choir — was formed to raise cancer awareness in youth and give a positive, hopeful message to children that have been affected by cancer, Rider said. The third letter “c” is never capitalized, Rider said, because they want to emphasize that cancer is just a small part of their lives.

The R.O.C.c.C.K. Choir is made up of about 20 children between ages 3 and 17 from all over the Valley, including Austintown.

All of the kids in the choir have either survived cancer themselves or have been affected by cancer in some way.

“The choir is meant to be uplifting,” Rider said. “It makes them all good adults.” A Way With Words also publishes books and poems for adults and children about surviving cancer.

The R.O.C.c.C.K Choir draws from these submissions to write new songs that they perform.

The foundation also spreads its message of hope and survival through its boutique, The AwwwMazing Place, located in the Southern Park Mall in Boardman. Rider plans to open a second location at the Eastwood Mall in the near future. The store sells inspirational books, CDs and T-shirts, as well as paintings, jewelery and other crafts donated by local artists.

Proceeds from the store go back into the foundation, which is staffed entirely by unpaid volunteers.

In her time away from her organization, Rider is a dispatcher with the Austintown Police Department.

In addition to providing inspirational programs and publishing materials to raise awareness about cancer survival, A Way With Words also provides day-to-day assistance for members of the community who are fighting cancer.

“We try and step in wherever we can to help local people get through the day to day problems that people incur,” Rider said.