Sixth Annual Transformation Through Rhythm Concert to Benefit Hospice

The community is invited to the sixth annual benefit concert, Transformation Through Rhythm, on Sunday, April 9, 2017, at 2 pm in the DeKalb High School Auditorium. The concert will feature the DeKalb High School Percussion Ensemble, the Northern Illinois University Percussion Ensemble, the Harambee African Percussion Ensemble and the DeKalb High School Steel Band. There is no charge for admission and donations are appreciated.

“New this year, we have started a ‘bead market’ and have a committee working diligently to create beautiful jewelry with African beads,” said Jen Conley, MTBC, LPC, music therapist at KishHealth System Hospice, part of Northwestern Medicine. “All of the proceeds from the sales of this handmade jewelry will go to Knysna Hospice.”

The annual Transformation Through Rhythm concert brings diverse performers and audience members together to celebrate community, service, and music. The concert offers an opportunity to support both the Music Therapy program at KishHealth System Hospice, part of Northwestern Medicine, which is largely supported through grants and donations, and its sister hospice, Knysna-Sedgefield Hospice in Knysna, South Africa. Proceeds from last year’s concert helped bring food relief to needy hospice patients and their families in Knysna who live in harsh conditions and extreme poverty, where the economic climate is making it increasingly difficult to secure food donations. The concert raised 11,417 South African ZAR, enough for 53 food parcels.

In the spring of 2004, KishHealth System Hospice joined the Twinning Initiative of the Foundation for Hospices in Sub-Saharan Africa (FHSSA). Hospice programs in the U.S. are encouraged to raise funds to assist their partners financially. Help is particularly important with the continued HIV/AIDS epidemic that kills more than 6,300 people daily in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Sponsors of this event are Northwestern Medicine; Northern Illinois University, DeKalb High School, the Harambee Ensemble, and radio sponsor WNIU. For more information about Transformation Through Rhythm, call KishHealth System Hospice, part of Northwestern Medicine, at 815.756.3000.