Casa de Esperanza
   P. O. Box 66581
   Houston, TX  77266-6581
   (713) 529-0639

Fall/Winter 2004 Newsletter

One Teen Finds His Own Way to Help Children With AIDS

Rich Shook, a 10th grader in Pittsburgh and nephew of long-term Casa staff member Sister Peg Markey, raises money for Casa.

“One night I was watching television a few months ago. It happened to be national AIDS days. As I watched show after show seeing kids my age and younger die of AIDS I came to the realization that I had to do something. I knew whatever it was it wasn’t going to be much, but I still had to try. The U.S. Government estimates that there are approximately 14,000 American children infected with HIV. It is also estimated that there are nearly 80,000 American children who have been orphaned by the AIDS-related deaths of their parents. That is a lot of children  in need of help.

“That night while trying to fall asleep those facts kept running through my head. Suddenly it struck me, I jumped out of bed and began typing a note to various people at my school (teachers, principals, board members, etc.). I wrote about how our school needed to better inform their students of the risk of AIDS. I know for a fact that about 50% of the kids in my school are having sex and some of them are having it unprotected. The response I received back was minimal. Most people said that they wanted to help but couldn’t. I just wrote them off as not truly caring. I figured it was time to go back to the drawing board.

“I spent the next few days trying to think of what else I could do. After going to a local concert I realized that I know a ton of great local bands that’d be willing to help me out. I decided I was going to throw a charity concert. The next few days were spent E-mailing many of the best local bands in the Pittsburgh area. Surprising I received a great response. Since I had all of the bands I needed I began the search for a venue. This had to have been the hardest and most stressful part of this whole ordeal. I spent hours after hours e-mailing and calling places seeing if it would be possible for my show to be held there. After tons of let downs I finally got a good reply from a venue.

“Everything was set. I had bands, a venue, a date, flyers, and tickets. Now it was time for the moment of truth- the actual concert. On Friday March 19th, my parents, my sister, a few friends, and myself loaded up the car and headed for the show.     All of the bands arrived shortly after I did. I was nervous, excited, scared, and happy all at the same time. All of the bands played great and everybody seemed to enjoy themselves. After the first few bands I started to relax and started to enjoy myself. It was really cool to see the side of concerts you usually don’t get to see.

“The show ended around 11 and I was extremely happy with what just happened. Everything went off without a major problem and everybody was happy. The show raised about $300 dollars. I know it’s not much, but it can still help some kids with AIDS. I couldn’t have been happier.”

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