'Rock the Cause' to aid juvenile diabetes battle
Marlboro High School students are planning concert for April 17
BY REBECCA MORTON Staff Writer

MARLBORO - The auditorium at Marlboro High School will be filled with music and the screams of fans when the high school hosts a "Rock the Cause" benefit concert at 7 p.m. April 17.

With a concept conceived by Marlboro juniors Rachel Cooperstein, 17, and Amanda Pietruska, 16, the concert will raise money for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) and for the Nicholas Jonas Change for the Children Foundation.

Rachel and Amanda came up with the idea of holding a concert as a way of helping people they know who are affected by juvenile diabetes. The disease results when the body does not produce or properly use the hormone insulin.

"We wanted to take action and we thought that music had the power to reach our peers and motivate them to act," Rachel said.

"We were really excited to do this because nothing has been done like this at Marlboro High School. We just thought it would be a great way to bring people together. I feel music is one of the biggest channels to bring together kids and teens," Amanda said.

Amanda said she and Rachel met Push Play, the band that would become their headlining act, last August. When they contacted the band members about their idea for a concert, the members of Push Play expressed a desire to help out. The band members are very charitable, Amanda said, explaining that they are currently in the middle of a "Push Play for a Purpose" tour doing all benefit shows.

Once the girls had their first band lined up the event snowballed. Rachel said they reached out to other area bands and explained their dream of hosting a benefit concert. The response was encouraging and soon Honor Society and the Matt Koziol Band were signed up for the show.

In choosing charities that would receive the proceeds from the concert, Rachel said the JDRF has a local headquarters, which gave the girls a contact. They also chose the charity of the popular New Jersey pop-rock band the Jonas Brothers. The girls said they were inspired by the story of Nicholas Jonas, who was diagnosed with Type 1 juvenile diabetes in 2005.

"It's inspirational, he's so young, yet what they're doing is so remarkable and he's always trying so hard," Rachel said about Nicholas, 14, who is currently on tour with his brothers.

With the help of their faculty adviser, Esther Cooke, and a committee of more than 20 student volunteers, the girls' dream quickly became a reality.

Erica Wertheim, 16, joined the concert committee after Rachel approached her with their idea.

"I felt it was a great cause and I wanted to help," Erica said.

Erica has taken on the task of communications for the event and has been sending out press releases to various media outlets. She is also helping to create a pamphlet for the event that will list all of the sponsors.

The committee has been hard at work creating posters, recruiting sponsors and creating a page on the Internet social networking site Myspace. With less than a month to go before the big night, the committee already has the evening planned down to designating where volunteers will be working during the concert.

The girls said they have been receiving messages of thanks every day from members of the Myspace community for their effort in helping with juvenile diabetes.

Tickets are available through Pay Pal at myspace.com/rockthecause1 at a cost of $15 per ticket for general admission. Marlboro students may purchase tickets for $10. A link is also available for people to donate money to the cause.

"We knew it was going to be a huge project when we took it on and it wasn't all easy. There were a lot of obstacles that we had to overcome, but we knew this was something we really wanted to do," Amanda said.

"We were so motivated because we knew it would work out," Rachel added.

As of March 18 the benefit concert had raised more than $4,000 in ticket sales.

To raise extra money there will be an auction of signed memorabilia from the Jonas Brothers and from Jordan Pruitt, a 15-year-old young woman who has a recording contract with Hollywood Records.

For more information about the concert, visit myspace.com/rockthecause1 or e-mail rockthecause1@yahoo.com.