Mystery gifts at San Jose State deliver messages
Wrapped boxes tied to balloons were scattered around the area near the statues of John Carlos and Tommie Smith at San Jose State on Wednesday, catching the curiosity of many students who stopped to see what it was all about. They weren’t leftover gifts from somebody’s birthday or a multimillionaire’s clever way of giving out wads of cash. Nope, this was an actual PR stunt — but one with a good cause behind it.
The boxes were part of a one- day event, the Awareness With Purpose Fair, organized by the SJSU chapter of Public Relations Student Society of America. The group, led by chapter president Jasmine Garcia, aimed to get the word out about With Purpose, a national nonprofit that fights pediatric cancer. Alyssa McCoy, a San Jose State student and childhood cancer survivor, spoke at the fair, which included information booths for Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital and Courageous Kids, which was represented by founder Kristi Cole.
And what about those 30 wrapped boxes? They had meaning, too. Twenty- seven of them were yellow, standing for the 89 percent of kids who are able to survive childhood cancer each year. But the remaining three, wrapped in white, represented the 11 percent who don’t make it — and carried a message about how to increase funding to fight pediatric cancer.
TEEN SENSATION IN LOS GATOS » The sky seems to be the limit for Los Gatos High School junior Emma Gerson, who won the Miss Sili-
con Valley Outstanding Teen Scholarship Competition in January. Gerson, who’ll be headed to Fresno in June for the Miss California Outstanding Teen competition, should be getting used to the spotlight. In 2016, she was the winner of South Bay Teen Idol and also was a recipient of the National Young Arts Scholarship for pop vocal.
Along with a group of fellow Los Gatos High students, Gerson organized the “Night of Stars” benefit last November that raised more than $16,000 for the Peace Corps’ “Let Girls Learn” initiative, which was started by former first lady Michelle Obama. The teen wonder also compiled a book of work by youth artists and writers, including U. S. Youth Poet Laureate Amanda Gorman, called “Don’t Call Me Cutie: A Message from American Teenage Girls,” that she will release in May, with proceeds supporting “Let Girls Learn.”
“I know very few people have the opportunities that I have here, and I just want to do everything I can, to increase educational opportunities for girls and young women around the world,” said Gerson, who won the Outstanding Teen competition by performing her own original composition, “Ready for a Change.”
FEAST FOR OPERA FANS » Opera San Jose is finishing up its run of Wagner’s “The Flying Dutchman” with performances on Friday and Sunday at the California Theatre. And if opera fans haven’t gotten their fill from that classic, the San Jose Woman’s Club has just the fix with its annual Opera With the Stars luncheon on March 1. The lunch features a selection of Opera San Jose resident artists performing in the historic clubhouse at 75 S. 11th St. Seats are $15-$40, and you can have one of the singers dedicate an aria for $25. Get more information at operalunch.eventbrite.com.
TAPPING FOR GOOD » Tap Explosion, the Bay Area’s only tap dance company, has been delighting audiences for more than two decades. But, director and founder Gayle Greenbrook says, the company also has been putting its footwork to good use for the community. Tap Explosion has raised more than $30,000 through a series of benefit shows for nonprofits that tackle Lyme disease, childhood diabetes, muscular dystrophy and sudden infant death syndrome.
Neglected animals are the focus of “Music and Hope,” the company’s fifth benefit show on March 3 at the Historic Hoover Theatre in San Jose. Performances will be held at 1 and 4 p.m., and tickets are $20, with proceeds benefiting the Nike Animal Rescue Foundation.