Fifth Annual Ukulele Benefit Concert to Support Leigh Syndrome Research

More than 100 members of the Warwick Valley Middle School Ukulele Club will be participating in the club’s fifth annual benefit concert this month. The club hosts the concert each year in support of a cause with ties to the local Warwick community.

The benefit concert will feature multiple performances from the club, which consists of more than 100 middle school and high school students. Past benefit concerts have raised money for causes such as the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network and The Children’s Heart Foundation.

Raising funds for Team Lila

This year the club has decided to support the Cure Mito Foundation for Team Lila. Lila Suzor was an 11-year-old Warwick Valley student living with ECHS1 Deficiency, a form of Leigh’s syndrome, who died in 2025. She is remembered for her love of art and music, having performed singing and piano performances at one of her elementary school concerts.

Leigh’s syndrome is a rare mitochondrial, neurodegenerative disease that impacts the body’s ability to produce energy. Children living with the disease commonly lose the ability to walk, talk, and eat on their own, and often face reduced life expectancies.

Team Lila is a campaign formed in coordination with the Cure Mito Foundation, a parent-led organization dedicated to raising awareness about Leigh’s syndrome as well as supporting innovative research and treatments for the disease. Amanda Suzor, Lila’s mother and a member of the Cure Mito Advisory Board, explained the organization’s perspective.

“It’s trying to form a new path and find new ways and new cures,” Amanda Suzor said. “Science is ever evolving, and I think that’s one thing about Cure Mito: they’re willing to evolve with science.”

Benefit concert on March 20

The benefit concert will be held on Friday, March 20 in the Warwick Valley Middle School cafeteria. The concert will begin at 6 p.m. and is free for anyone to attend; those willing and able are welcome to contribute to a suggested donation box.

Attendees will also have the opportunity to participate in events to win family experiences, such as amusement park tickets or a day at the lake. For some of the larger prize packages, participation tickets are sold in advance by the students, as explained by Kristin Orthmann, the club’s head of fundraising. She explained that selling tickets before the event allows the students to explain the charity they are collecting for.

Community shows support

Many local businesses have either donated to the fundraiser or helped develop some of the prize packages, including Pin Street Bowling, Warwick Center for the Performing Arts, Crystal Springs, Warwick Valley Country Club, Forestburgh Playhouse, and Galloway Grill. Additional contributors can be found in the concert program.

“It’s to kind of show the power of community, how we can come together in Warwick to show others that we’re supporting them when times get tough,” Shane Peters, ukulele club advisor and middle school music teacher, said.

Anyone unable to attend the benefit concert who wishes to contribute to the Cure Mito Foundation can do so at https://shorturl.at/pOwVM.