Friends! Our beloved Steve is turning 50 today! I can't think of a better way to honor Steve than to create a fundraiser to help him accomplish one of his most sought after dreams. As we all know, he is an extremely generous, thoughtful, kind and empathetic human. I'd love to reciprocate the love he has shown all of us through his music, companionship and dedication to charitable organizations by presenting him with a monetary gift that will help him achieve one of those dreams.
Steve often prefaces his shows by telling his story- which I'm sure many of you are familiar with. In case you are not, I'll share that Steve was born in Dalat, Vietnam in 1974 and was airlifted out of Saigon in April of 1975 as part of "Operation Baby Lift". He was left at an orphanage by his mother as an infant. He was originally scheduled to board the ill-fated first flight that crashed shortly after take-off and killed 80% of the people on board- most of them children. Instead, he was "mis-placed" on a different plane, flown to CA, then FL and finally to PA where his adoptive family was waiting for him. As a result, Steve often says that he is "the most looked after" person on the planet.
- One of Steve's dreams is to go back to Vietnam with Kai (his son) to explore his roots, culture/heritage and potentially find his birth parents. Kai has recently expressed interest in finding his biological grandparents and it would be awesome if this fundraiser could help pay for their trip. If you'd like to help send Steve and Kai get to Vietnam in honor of Steve's 50th birthday, donate here!
You can learn more about Operation Baby Lift here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Babylift
https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/daughter-operation-babylift-1975/
Should this fundraiser surpass its initial goal, additional donations will be directed to other endeavors near and dear to Steve's heart :
- Some of you also might know that Steve is in the middle of recording an album. How awesome would it be if we could help fund his album through donations here? From recording time, to paying studio musicians, finding the right producer, mixing, mastering, artwork, marketing, distribution, funding an album is no joke!
- Finally, Steve and I have created a non-profit organization- The Lakeshore Community Event Series- and we've been trying to get it off the ground for the past year. Steve is extremely passionate about community building and giving back and would be beyond thrilled to receive funding toward this cause! The theme is a "dinner and show" series- an event series in the community that is sustained through volunteers and consistent donor streams and strategies, while highlighting local musicians, artists and caterers in a safe environment and in front of an engaged audience every other month- all in the spirit of promoting art, connection, community, diversity, equity, and inclusion.
