Like so many other performers, jazz and R&B singer Jeanine Mackie has done loads of benefit shows over the years. But it wasn’t until she met Friends for Life Erick Bauer and Steve Cameron that she decided to step up and take on a PR role helping to raise awareness and money on behalf of these inspiring young men who spent their adolescence battling life-threatening illnesses together.
“Steve and Erick’s story touched me so deeply that I agreed to do more than just show up and sing,” says Mackie. “The two boys met when they were 11-years old but their friendship really developed when they were both patients at the Hospital for Sick Children at age 16. Steve was fighting cancer and Erick was fighting Cystic Fibrosis. Steve’s cancer is now in remission but Erick continues to struggle with CF every day.”
Now in its fifth year, Bauer and Cameron’s Friends for Life Foundation has raised more than $128,000 to date in support of the SickKids Foundation and The Canadian Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.
“These are two of the brightest, most articulate and inspiring people I’ve ever met,” says Mackie earnestly. “It’s wonderful to see young people who give so much of themselves to help others.”
Mackie and her band — John Tilden (guitar), Byron Stoehr (bass), Matt Horner (keys), John Johnson (sax) and Mike Siracusa (drums) – are headlining a special PWYC, volunteer appreciation date February 27 at Chalkers Pub in north Toronto. Show starts at 9:30 pm; dancing shoes required.
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