Strong Heart song campaign tops goal
Hours after launching a heartwrenching music video in support of the SickKids Foundation, two local artists reached their fundraising goal.
Melissa Payne and Megan Murphy posted Strong Heart online Friday morning.
It features an original song written and performed by Payne. She wrote it just days after finding out her young niece, Eliza Vivian, had leukemia.
Four days later, Murphy’s niece, Neave Alderson, was diagnosed with bone cancer. (Murphy directed and produced Strong Heart).
Several months earlier, Peterborough’s Harrison McKinnon was diagnosed with lymphoma. He had just turned 1.
The three youngsters are featured in the video, which was shot in the spring at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto and at Peterborough Regional Health Centre.
The video was released Friday to coincide with Childhood Cancer Awareness Month. It’s meant to raise awareness and funds for the Sick Kids Foundation.
By Friday night, Strong Heart had topped its $5,000 goal, raising $5,115 in donations.
Murphy, a local radio broadcaster and filmmaker, Neave, 9, Eliza, 4, and Payne, a singer-songwriter from Ennismore, made an appearance on Breakfast Television in Toronto on Friday morning before the video’s launch.
Sadly, Harrison died in June at the age of 2. A memorial golf tournament is taking place at the Quarry Golf and Country Club in Ennismore on Sept. 15 – that would have been Harrison’s third birthday. Proceeds will benefit the Children’s Oncology Group Foundation.
Neave and Eliza wore gold capes on the morning program that read Super H, in memory of Harrison.
The video is a tribute to Harrison, Neave and Eliza, as well as all the kids who have battled and will battle cancer.
Murphy said she was overwhelmed by the response the video was getting.
“Within five minutes it had been shared 45 times (on Facebook),” Murphy said.
Anyone who’s dealt with Sick Kids knows how vital the work they do is, Murphy said. That’s why she and Payne wanted to give back.
“There’s so little you can do and there’s so little you can control and this is one thing that we can do,” said Murphy.
Strong Heart was a collaborative effort, comprised of a ton of local talent. In it, Payne sings and plays guitar, Natalie MacMaster is on the fiddle, Jimmy Bowskill plays the violin, Rob Phillips is on the piano, and harmony vocals are by Evangeline Gentle. The song was engineered and produced by James McKenty and the video was shot and edited by Rob Viscardis.
They all donated their time to the piece. But that didn’t come as a shock to Murphy, seeing that the Peterborough community is so special and unique.
“I wasn’t surprised that everybody stepped up and offered their time and talent, but I’m always humbled by it,” Murphy said.
NOTES: Watch the video online at www.thepeterboroughexaminer.com or at www.youtube.com/watch?v=YlM7zxIH2Ac .... To make a donation to the Sick Kids Foundation, go to http://my.sickkidsdonations.com/StrongHeart.