Performers With A Purpose, "Bringing Sarcoma Awareness Center Stage"

Mission: Spread the joy of performing arts to our youth while raising awareness and funds for Sarcoma 

Results: 127 Public School Performers, 

8 Outstanding Dancing Schools, 

500 People and $12, 000.00 raised . . . Safe to say, "MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!" 

Last year in an Arts Management class I created a 40 page not for profit business proposal called Performers With A Purpose, “Bringing Sarcoma Awareness Center Stage,” and this year I was able to take it off the paper and make it a reality !!! My biggest goal as Miss Brooklyn this year was to coordinate a dance benefit performance and on May 7th at Xaverian High School that goal came to life !!! I created and implemented a dance program in three Brooklyn Public Schools, PS 112, PS 48 & IS 187, teaching dance to 200 students a week ranging from Kindergarten to 8th Grade. My mission was to not only spread the importance of an arts education, but to show students that the arts can be used as a launching pad for success and can be a great tool for community service.  For four months I worked with the terrific children who danced their way into my heart and changed my life completely.  Their smiles, their passion and their joy made all of the stress of putting together such a detailed event soooo worth it !!! 


My inspiration and my motivation for everything I have done this year comes from a place that is very dear to my heart.  My Aunt Josephine Schiavo, who is a Stage 4 Sarcoma Cancer Survivor, has been my driving force every step of the way.  Her strength and her positive attitude through adversity is something  I admire tremendously.  I wanted to educate the community about Sarcoma because the reality is Sarcoma is the most rare form of cancer in the United States today, affecting 1% of adults and 15-20% of children each and every year, there are more then 50 subtypes of Sarcoma most of which even doctors can't diagnose and when approximately 4,000 people lose the fight with this cancer every year we can't afford not to know about it. 

Therefore, I was determined to make Performers With A Purpose come to life, I reached out to sponsors throughout Brooklyn and beyond and raised $4,600.00 in donations to ensure that all of the money raised at the event would go to the Sarcoma Alliance; the not-for profit California based organization that I chose to support this year as Miss Brooklyn. They strive to educate, guide & support patients and families afflicted with Sarcoma and I myself am so thankful that an organization like theirs exists, (www.sarcomaalliance.org). 

THANK YOU TO ALL OF MY AMAZING SPONSORS

The week leading up to the event was the most challenging week of my life.  There were obstacles, stress and a great deal that went wrong lol, but when 500 people showed up to support the cause, I knew I must have done something right ! We even had a few surprise guest speakers including Councilman Vincent Gentile & Senator Golden.  In addition, Miss New York, Claire Buffie, Miss Manhattan, Mallory Hagan, Miss NYC, Hannah Wright, Miss Five Boroughs, Kate Perkins, Miss Brooklyn’s Outstanding Teen Brittney Hollingsworth and Miss Brooklyn’s Executive Director, Amaris Acosta, were all in attendance.


Someone very special to me once told me "if you have the gift of dance, don't be selfish, share it with as many people as possible," and being able to stand up on that stage in front of all of those people and seeing my vision come to life was an indescribable feeling of utter JOY! 

Love you Aunt Joe <3

PS 122 Kindergarten Cuties <3
"Do You Believe In Magic" 

PS 48 4th Graders
"I'm A Believer" 

IS 187 Christa McAuliffe
"Don't Stop Believing" 

ZUMBA with Miss M <3

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THANK YOU FROM THE BOTTOM OF MY HEART FOR EVERYONE WHO CAME OUT TO SUPPORT THIS EVENT! THANK YOU TO THOSE WHO DONATED THEIR TIME AND THEIR RESOURCES, FOR WITHOUT YOU THIS EVENT COULD NOT HAVE BEEN POSSIBLE. 


I cannot wait to see what the future has in store for Performers With A Purpose, but if all goes well I hope to turn it into a full not-for-profit organization within the next 10 years <3


Love, 
Christina