Sheepshead Bay Resident Sings at Carnegie Hall

The Lemonaid for Haiti kids and their mom. (Photo courtesy of YouTube)

(See the video press release for the concert on YouTube.)

You may remember the three Sheepshead Bay siblings, Chedera, Christopher, and Conner, who spent their summer afternoons selling lemonade on Emmons Avenue to help hungry people.

Their mother and main organizer, Paige Strackman, said that her  kids feel a strong connection to this cause. Since her husband is from Haiti, she and her family are intimately aware of the poverty and hunger affecting its residents. She focused our conversation on the work that her kids were doing to raise money and awareness. What the humble Strackman never told us was that in October 2008, she won $100K grant from the American Express Members Project for the kids’ Lemonaid for Haiti charitable organization. That we found out about that from one of her blogs.

Strackman, a Sheepshead Bay resident and former lead vocalist with the Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir, didn’t stop at $100K. Using her connections in the world of performing artists, she helped organize a concert at Carnegie Hall to benefit the needy people in Haiti. Then, just as the concert planners were putting their near-final touches on the concert, tragedy struck Haiti on Tuesday, January 12, 2010.

As the world’s attention was centered on the needs created by the devastating earthquake, Strackman, her kids, and the charitable team would be putting in an even greater effort than before to call attention to the crisis need, as well as to the chronic hunger problems.

Strackman travels worldwide singing for her faith, but this concert will be closer to home. The concert tickets are sold out, but a representative at Carnegie Hall told us that on the day of the event it may still be possible to obtain tickets, since it is not uncommon to have tickets reverted back to the box office.

Check below for information about the concert, as well as links and information about how to support the Lemonaid for Haiti program.

Concert info from the Carnegie Hall event listing:
Benefit Concert for Haiti
PRESENTED BY Lemonaid for Haiti

Paige Strackman, Vocalist
Weill Recital Hall

Friday, February 26th, 2010 at 8:00 PM
Student and Senior Discount Tickets Available at the Box Office
Also performing: Jason Michael Webb, Music Director

Harlem Quartet
·· Ilmar Gavilán, Violin 
·· Melissa White, Violin 
·· Juan-Miguel Hernández, Viola 
·· Desmond Neysmith, Cello
Program of gospel music

For more information, please call CarnegieCharge at 212-247-7800