Sheryl Crow to play for children’s charities

Sheryl Crow is scheduled to serenade the 7,500 capacity Siegel Center Saturday for the Genworth Children Advancement Classic Concert, in which eight local children’s charities will evenly split all proceeds.

Development Director for Richmond Ballet’s Minds in Motion Susan Coogan hopes the children in her program can look at successful Grammy-award winners like Crow for inspiration.

Minds in Motion teaches local fourth-grade students to use their brains by memorizing modern dance steps and keeping time while dancing and having fun.

Coogan said Minds in Motion does not discriminate, and the children who succeed in the program have often not been successful in other areas.

“They can be in a wheelchair, have emotional or learning difficulties,” Coogan said.

Minds in Motion is only one out of eight charities benefiting from the GCAC concert. The other charities are Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Richmond and Tri-Cities, Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Richmond, Communities in Schools, FRIENDS Association for Children, Science Museum of Virginia, VirginiaFIRST and the William Byrd Community House.

The event- – which in years past has included celebrities like singer James Taylor and tennis player Anna Kournikova – is hosted by former tennis champions Andre Agassi and Stefanie Graf, as well as Genworth Chairman and CEO Michael D. Fraizer-. Genworth spokesman Tom Topanka expects the event to sell out or largely fill up the Siegel Center based on three years of successful runs and hopes people will be drawn to supporting a good cause.

“It would be really meaningful for the community,” Topanka said. “Every single dollar of the ticket prices goes 100 percent to the charities. That would be a motivation beyond the fact that Sheryl Crow is an iconic singer and songwriter.”

Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Richmond and Tri-Cities, a program that matches children with mentors, is also benefiting from the GCAC concert.

Marketing manager Mark Bowen said the organization is
fortunate to benefit from the concert, and that it works on a daily basis to improve children’s lives.

“Thousands of children in this area need positive male or female role models,” Bowen said.

The children from Big Brothers Big Sisters are directly involved with the concert, acting as pre-ushers and handing out programs, Bowen added. The children’s participation will allow attendees to see how their money is being used.

One of the children participating the night of the concert is 12-year-old Canaan Greenhill, a member of Big Brothers Big Sisters and winner of Genworth’s 2008 essay contest to improve the community. Greenhill became involved with the program when his mother signed him up. He has had a positive experience so far, and thought the proceeds from the GCAC concert should be used to expand Big Brothers Big Sisters.

“I think they should put it into helping get more big brothers and big sisters so they can help out more kids,” Greenhill said.

Bowen said the money received from the concert will be used to expand the organization.

“If Big Brothers Big Sisters raises $55,000, it will be able to support 55-60 matches,” Bowen said.

Bowen also said the money received from the GCAC concert will go to providing required insurance cost when they match a child with a mentor.

Coogan said at the end of the day, it is important for the participating organizations to teach children to set and accomplish goals like the celebrities participating in the event.

“Sheryl Crow and Agassi have done it. These kids are all doing that type of thing,” she said.

The GCAC Concert starts at 8 p.m. and doors open at 7 p.m. Ticket prices range from $35-125 and VCU students can receive a 20-percent discount with a valid student ID.

Visit www.genworth.com/children to purchase GCAC concert tickets or call the VCU ticket office at (804) 828-7267.