It Takes a Villlage

stephanie-photo1
Stephanie Radman

By: Stephanie Radman 

If you look up the word “volunteer” in the dictionary, you just might find a photograph of Greenwich High School student, Elliot Kim, next to the definition. Elliot has been a longtime volunteer at River House Adult Day Center (River House) in Cos Cob. He co-founded the Greenwich High School Performers Showcase Club, which is a group of very talented student musician volunteers who perform at various local community centers, including River House. When Elliot and the musicians perform for our clients, you can see a sea of smiles, feet tapping and bodies rocking back and forth to the delightful music. For that, all of us at River House are extremely thankful.

Elliot Kim is currently a senior at Greenwich High School, and he will be attending Dartmouth College this fall. Elliot began playing piano at age five and he studied classical piano at the Manhattan School of Music for nine years. As a winner of over a dozen international piano competitions, he has performed at major concert venues such as Carnegie Hall, Merkin Concert Hall, and Palazzo Ducale in Italy. Elliot’s performances abroad include masterclasses at international music festivals in Italy, Spain, Austria, Germany and France.

Like many area nonprofits, we were forced to cancel our major annual fundraiser, “Rosé on the River,” an elegant dinner with cocktails that was due to be held at our facility on the beautiful Mianus River on May 1, 2020. Months ago, Elliot Kim agreed to perform for River House at our event. You could almost see his smile as he replied to us via email, “ Thank you so much for considering me for this amazing opportunity. I would love to perform and be a part of this special event for River House”. We were all saddened to have to cancel our fundraiser but we marched forward, taking care of our clients and their families the best way that we know how.

Elliot Kim would come through yet again for River House. Elliot knew the importance of our spring fundraiser. Elliot contacted us this spring to tell us that he would be gathering student performances to upload to a YouTube page whereby people could enjoy the music and perhaps donate to a GoFund Me Page on behalf of River House. Well, the music played and the donations came in. Elliot Kim and the Greenwich High School Performers Showcase Club have already raised over $5,000.00 for River House Adult Day Center. All of us at River House are very grateful for Elliot Kim, all of the musicians and also those who made donations. If you would like to see the remarkable talents of these special student musician volunteers, please visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2jExHWoyZ-I&feature=youtu.be. If you would like to donate to the GoFundMe page, please visit: https://www.gofundme.com/f/virtual-benefit-concert-for-the-river-house?utm_source=customer&utm_medium=copy_link&utm_campaign=p_cf+share-flow-1.

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