The Elizabethtown College Education Organization (Ed Org) hosted the 13th Annual A-T Benefit Saturday, March 17 from 7-9 p.m. in Leffler Chapel and Performance Center.
Ed Org raised a total of $1,300, which will be directly given to A-T Children’s Project. The donation was made in memory of Daniel Schuitema, 20, who recently died from A-T.
Two families of children diagnosed with A-T were in attendance. The event cost $5. Guests had the opportunity to purchase t-shirts, snacks and additional items.
The president of Ed Org, senior Jenn Lloyd, welcomed the audience and shared sentiments from Daniel Schuitema’s father.
“Daniel was loved by everyone who took the time to get to know him; he had a great sense of humor. He loved school, movies and making artwork on the computer, despite his difficulties of muscle loss from A-T,” she said.
“Daniel was diagnosed with A-T at the age of five. By the time he was nine years old, Daniel had increased difficulties with walking in addition to other neurological issues. He greatly loved his family and three dogs,” Lloyd continued.
According to a brochure, “Ataxia-telangiectasia is a degenerative disease that affects the body’s organs and systems. Symptoms of A-T appear around age 2, affecting balance and speech. Children with A-T gradually lose control of their muscles and are highly susceptible to respiratory and lung infections.”
Etown music and dance groups performed for the event. Those who volunteered their time included the following groups: Melica, Vocalign, Phalanx, seniors Ryan Sagedy, Meredith Groff and Celia Grove, the Etown Dance Team and E-motion.
Secretary of the Ed Org club, senior Rachael Jennelly, has been a member of the club since her first year at Etown. This is her second year as the secretary.
“I really wanted to become more involved with the education department,” Jennelly said. “My favorite part of Ed Org is that everyone works together and finds different ways for ed majors to work with children.”
This year Jennelly primarily helped set up babysitting with the STEM project in East High Street Elementary School. Last year, as an officer, she was responsible for organizing homecoming events.
Junior Ed Org member Courtney Comer also volunteered at the event.
“I came to volunteer and support the worthy cause,” she said.
The first performance was from the Elizabethtown College Dance Team. The dancers performed to the song “Don’t Blame Me.” The second number, which was performed later in the lineup of performances, was a song called “Tribe.”
Dance Team senior Samantha Carbaugh has been a member of the club for three years.
“My favorite part of being involved in the club is being able to perform with my team,” she said.
Melica, Etown’s all-women acapella group, performed four songs. There are 11 members who performed on Leffler’s stage. The women sang “Wings,” “Something Beautiful,” “I Believe” and “Skyscraper.”
The lead singer of “Something Beautiful,” sophomore Lauren Shakes, has been a part of this club since she commenced college.
“My favorite part of being in Melica is the relationship with the other girls as well as being a part of something bigger than myself,” Shakes said.
Sagedy, Groff and Grove performed four songs. The first three songs featured one of the members. Sagedy sang solo on the piano, Grove sang and played guitar and Groff sang without playing an instrument.
The group concluded their performance by playing and singing a song together.
Junior and Etownian Staff Writer Kenyon Tarquinio did a solo performance playing her ukulele and sang four songs.
“I love doing solo performances because I can force people to listen to the kind of music I like,” she jokingly said.
Tarquinio performed the following songs: “I love you baby, I love you doll,” “Ask,” “Hello my old Heart” and “Would you be so kind?”
The E-motion dance club performed two pieces, which were featured in the fall E-motion production.
The first performance was a cast of beginner-level dancers who danced to the song “I Just Can’t Wait to be King” from the Disney movie “The Lion King.”
The second performance was a swing-dance number. This performance was danced to the song “Bare Necessities” from the Disney movie “The Jungle Book.”
The all-male acapella 11-membered group, Phalanx, performed three songs.
The first was called “Good Old Acapella.” The second was a country song called “Bless This Broken Road.” Phalanx ended with their most famous song “Brown-Eyed Girl.”
The final group to perform was Vocalign, a co-ed acapella group. They sang three songs. The first was titled “Somebody I Used to Know.” The other songs were “Warning Sign” and “Symphony.”
