by Alan K. StoutMusic Columnist
When 37 different acts perform at “Concert For A Cause 7: A Concert For Karen” on April 22, they’ll be doing it with a mission: to help people battling leukemia and to help find a cure for an often deadly illness that can strike anyone at anytime. It was leukemia that took the life of Karen Greenberg Revit of Kingston back in 1998 and inspired the first “Concert For Karen” event a decade ago, and though advances have been made in fighting the disease and other blood-related cancers, some facts taken from the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society official Web site reveal that help is certainly still needed:
• An estimated 138,530 people in the United States are diagnosed with leukemia, lymphoma or myeloma each year. New cases of leukemia, Hodgkin and non-Hodgkin lymphoma and myeloma will account for 9.6 percent of the 1,437,180 new cancer cases diagnosed in the United States this year.
• Leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma will cause the deaths of an estimated 52,910 people in the United States this year. These blood cancers accounted for nearly 9.4 percent of the deaths from cancer in 2008 based on the 565,650 total cancer-related deaths.
• Every 10 minutes, another child or adult is expected to die from leukemia, lymphoma or myeloma. This statistic represents nearly 145 people each day or six people every hour.
• Leukemia causes more deaths than any other cancer among children and young adults less than the age of 20.
“Concert For a Cause 7: A Concert For Karen” will try to put a dent in those statistics. Money raised at the show will aid a special United Way Leukemia Fund which will be available to people in NEPA currently battling leukemia that may need special treatment outside of the area. Money raised will also aid the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, which not only aids leukemia patients but also funds research. Barry Diehl, branch director of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, knows all too well how important fundraisers can be in the search for a cure.
“Even with such tremendous improvements in survival rates in blood cancers, such as leukemia, we are still not at 100 percent,” says Diehl. “Kids under 15 who are diagnosed with Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia (ALL) have an 88 percent five-year survival rate. That means that one out of every 10 diagnosed will not survive, and that 88 percent statistic provides no comfort to a family that has lost a son or daughter.
“Adults who get the same type of leukemia do not fare nearly as well,” he adds. “The overall five-year survival rate for ALL is 66 percent, meaning that adults with this disease do not have the same five year survival rates as children. The bottom line is that more research is necessary to save lives, and events like ‘Concert for a Cause 7: A Concert for Karen’ are so important in providing much needed dollars to support researchers working at this moment for a cure.”
Wilkes-Barre Mayor Tom Leighton agrees, and in recognition of the event’s tenth anniversary, he will officially proclaim April 22, 2009 “Concert For A Cause Day” is the City of Wilkes-Barre. It is being done as gesture of acknowledgment to the many people – mostly young people – that have made the event one of NEPA’s biggest annual fundraisers.
“‘Concert for a Cause’ has become a tradition in the Greater Wilkes-Barre area, and I am very pleased to mark this 10-year milestone with a proclamation,” Leighton says. “‘Concert for a Cause’ is about more than just music. Because of the community-mindedness of its planners, the generosity of area musicians and the enthusiasm of the public, the event has channeled thousands of dollars to local agencies.
“I have no doubt that the 2009 ‘Concert for a Cause’ will continue in the same fashion because of the hard work and dedication of everyone involved.”
Lyn Carey is the sister of the late Karen Greenberg Revit. She recalls the first few “Concert For Karen” shows very well and has stayed involved with the event each year. She’s also seen, first-hand, what the illness can do to a family. Ten years after the loss of her sister, she still remembers her courageous battle with the illness with both sadness and awe.
“I recall her selflessness in trying to turn down treatments that could help save her life in fear the treatments could harm her unborn child, who also succumbed,” says Carey. “I recall how much Karen loved life and how hard she fought to beat the disease. Her battle was gut-wrenching, and through it all she had hope and she had humor, two attributes that speak volumes about the type of person Karen was.”
Carey says she hope events like “Concert For a Cause 7: A Concert For Karen” can spare other families the same anguish and other people the same fate.
“Let’s hope for a cure, and in the process, let’s hope for treatments that are not so debilitating to the patient,” she says. “Let’s hope we won’t have to have a leukemia benefit anymore, because a cure has been found.”
“Concert For A Cause 7: A Concert For Karen,” Wednesday, April 22, The Woodlands Inn & Resort (Route 315, Plains Twp.) Doors at 5:30 p.m. Cover: $7, 21 and over.
• STREAMSIDE BANDSTAND
(Stage 1)
Charles Havira - 6 p.m.
The Band Brown - 6:45 p.m.
The Underground Saints - 7:30 p.m.
Bret Alexander - 8:15 p.m.
The Sw!ms - 9 p.m.
k8 & The Borrowed - 9:45 p.m.
The Five Percent - 10:30 p.m.
George Wesley - 11:15 p.m.
Nicole Erin Carey - 12 midnight
Cabinet - 12:45 a.m.
• CLUB EVOLUTION
(Stage 2)
Graces Downfall - 6 p.m.
Destination West - 6:45 p.m.
Fighting Zero - 7:30 p.m.
Iron Cowboy - 8:15 p.m.
Crush - 9 p.m.
Farmer’s Daughter - 9:45 p.m.
Nowhere Slow - 10:30 p.m.
Maybe Someday - 11:15 p.m.
Bliss - 12 midnight
Lessen One - 12:45 p.m.
The Black Orkid - 1:30 a.m.
• GRAND BALLROOM
(Stage 3)
The NonRefundables - 6:30 p.m.
Lemongelli - 7:30 p.m.
40-Lb. Head - 8:30 p.m.
Panacea - 9:30 p.m.
Days Before Tomorrow - 10:30 p.m.
Bad Hair Day - 11:30 p.m.
Ashfall - 12:30 a.m.
Spit Can - 1:30 a.m.
• GRAND BALLROOM
(Stage 4)
Jeanne Zano & Rock-N-Horse - 6 p.m.
Plus 3 - 7 p.m.
Flaxy Morgan - 8 p.m.
The SilenTreatment - 9 p.m.
OurAfter - 10 p.m.
Go-Go Gadjet - 11 p.m.
M-80 - 12 midnight
Absolution - 1 a.m.
