Cerebral Palsy Patient Gets

Boost from Hellenic Parish

Imagine the pathos infused into soprano Melissa Perry (not to be confused with MSNBC’s Melissa Harris- Perry) as she and fellow vocalist Sharon Rose Destine ‘cheerfully’ executed   song after song, knowing that it was all for the benefit of her own daughter Sara Ann Kronrot, a severely affected by Cerebral palsy. It all happened the evening of March 7^th at the Greek-owned Water Works Restaurant at One Boathouse Row in Philadelphia, with the Greek Orthodox parish of St. Thomas in Cherry Hill, NJ, led by Hellenic Medical Society president Elias Iliadis of Cooper University Hospital took an interest in the girl’s extraordinary plight.

The 8-year-old have been diagnosed early in her life by pediatric specialists as a very severe case of cerebral palsy, giving her no chances of recovery, yet Sara Ann defied this prognosis by the experts by recovering enough to gain her sight and hearing. She no longer has contractures and is able to read, write and draw remarkably (two samples of which had been mounted on a musical stand in plain view in the room,) but is still unable to sit or stand. However, this exhaustive process of her therapy has taken a toll on her family’s resources, necessitating these fund-raising events.

The event, dubbed Waiting for Love, a Cabaret with the Diva Duo was one of many a fundraiser of this type held by the musical family of the afflicted girl, with her father, Hugh Kronrot, an accomplished artist himself accompanying the divas on the piano. The singing duo used a repertoire of all-time favorites, pop and enduring Broadway tunes, even opera in a sometimes comical sometimes boisterous tone, the two artists engaging in a non-maligned antagonism-of sorts-singing outbursts that brought smiles into the 50-odd person audience that filled the restaurant’s Grande Salon for the early session.

The Water Works open menu and special drinks were available to those in attendance who paid a $20 tax-deductible contribution ($25 at the door) for half price. Contributions for Sara Ann can be mailed to Collingswood Cates/Sara Fund at P. Ο. Βοχ 172 , Collingswood, NJ 08108 or through Pay Pal at www.facebook.com/friendsofsara.