>> See what this 10 Year old has done to take massive action to help Matt B in his fight..

TGMatt
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Thu Jun 09, 2011 12:21 pm

If the violin doesn't work out as a career path for Imani Perry-Atkins, perhaps event planning will.

The 10-year-old, a fourth-grader at Northeast Elementary School, has arranged and will perform in a benefit concert Saturday for a California man undergoing cancer treatment. Her mother, Stephenie Atkins, helped secure the space for it, but otherwise the planning and publicity have been Imani's work.

"She wouldn't give it up," Stephenie said. "I'm really proud of her."

The event is a concert in which Imani, who's been taking violin at Ithaca Talent Education since she was 5, will play several classical and folk selections accompanied by her teacher, Kathy McHugh. Fellow fourth-grader Joia Zhang will play a piece on the piano, too. It's 5 p.m. Saturday at St. Paul's United Methodist Church, Aurora at Court streets in Ithaca.

The suggested $5 donation and any other funds raised will go toward the treatment and related costs faced by a man she's never met, Matt Birskovich, 34, of Orange, Calif. Imani's aunt, Diane Vinch, is close friends with Birskovich's sister, Andrea Birskovich.

Imani saw Andrea's Facebook posting about her brother several months ago and kept checking to see if donations were coming in. First, she collected change at her school. Then she wanted a fundraiser, maybe a dance or pool party at home. The idea of a concert came up.

"I want to help him so he won't be worried as much about all his expenses," Imani said.

Matt Birskovich, left blind by a form of cancer as a toddler, earned a music degree and has made a living teaching guitar and gigging with bands. He's been diagnosed with leiomyosarcoma, the condition from which his father died at age 43. The main tumor is in his sinuses.

Birskovich is scheduled for surgery but had so much radiation treatment early in life that it's not an option now, and is receiving a therapy in which insulin accompanies low-dose conventional chemotherapy drugs. It's considered an alternative treatment and is not covered by insurance, and expenses run about $10,000 a month.

More on Birskovich's situation is at www.MattBvsCancer.com. A trust is being set up for Matt. Checks may be made to MattB vs. Cancer Fund c/o Mark Davis.

Imani said she's learned that arranging and rehearsing for a concert "takes a long time and it takes a lot of practice."

"I'm just doing it right now to help someone."


http://www.theithacajournal.com/article ... |FRONTPAGE


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thereshopeyet
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Thu Jun 09, 2011 4:46 pm

RIP MattB


willem
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Fri Jun 10, 2011 8:20 am

I don't know if Imani reads this but i was planning to buy a new guitar,,,my planning is changed for a moment 'cos of the 10 year old,,i just donate a amount....


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