Toronto Beaches Children’s Youth Chorus concert in support of Penny’s Promise set for March 28
By NATASHA JACKSON
The Toronto Beaches Children’s Youth Chorus (TBCYC) is hosting a fundraiser to continue the community’s support of the Penny’s Promise fund.
Penny Delvin is an eight-year-old local girl who has Selenon-Related Myopathy SEPN-1, a rare form of congenital muscular dystrophy, a neuromuscular disease that can cause progressive weakness and breakdown of skeletal muscles over time. The condition currently has no treatment.
Last year’s fundraising gala took place at the Toronto Beach Club and raised more than $125,000, with $75,000 going to the charity after gala costs.
On Saturday, March 28, the TBCYC will host a concert at Kingston Road United Church to help fund new research and continuing research into Penny’s condition.
This gala fundraiser will feature a 50/50 draw, a bake sale and a silent auction with prizes including sports tickets, Mirvish tickets and a year of choir classes.
Penny’s family started noticing delays in her development when she was around six to seven months old. When they consulted with doctors, they discovered that Penny’s muscle cell count was lower than normal, making her smaller than average. However, due to the overburdened state of the hospital system during the COVID-19 pandemic, Penny’s diagnosis slipped through the cracks. Which resulted in years of testing and a visit to a developmental pediatrician to uncover her condition.
Despite the challenges she’s faced, her parents said Penny continues to live a relatively healthy and normal life. Penny loves to sing and is one of the choristers at TBCYC.
Bronwen-Low-Scott is the founder and artistic director at TBCYC and a full-time Orff music teacher for the Toronto District School Board. She has known the Delvin family for more than five years. She said that she wants the Delvin family and Penny to feel the love and support from everyone in the choir community.
“It’s the least we can do in a meaningful way,” said Scott. “We’re all parents…and they’re pretty remarkable people… their hope and their strength is really an inspiration.”
Scott has always had a passion for the arts and teaching children. She started teaching music when she was 21 years old.
“I loved it because it’s very kinesthetic. So, especially with younger children, it’s a great way to teach them through doing,” said Scott.
TBCYC performs a wide range of music from traditional choral singing, which can be described as music from all over the world, musical theatre and African music.
Scott said there isn’t a specific musical theme for this year’s gala. The focus will be on raising hope, connecting with the community and rallying behind the Delvin family.
“I just think the whole concert is a theme of hope and community, and so we’re choosing the sort of songs that fit that. So coming together to really rally behind this family, one of our own, and to hopefully fill the church with as many people as possible to have that translate into financial aid … which is what they need for medical research,” said Scott.
This will be the third year for the Penny’s Promise fundraising event.
Penny’s Promise is in partnership with the Toronto Community Foundation and has already raised more than $250,000 to fund research on muscular dystrophy at Boston’s Children’s Hospital and University College Cork in Ireland. Currently, they are funding the Beggs Lab at Harvard University and are working with Muscular Dystrophy Canada to collaborate with new medical research projects.
In an interview last year with Beach Metro Community News, Penny’s mother Laura Delvin said the goal of Penny’s Promise is to fund more scientists, labs and research, and to support efforts to develop new therapeutic treatments that could improve the lifespan and quality of life for those living with neuromuscular conditions.
The March 28 concert starts at 4 p.m. at Kingston Road United Church located at 975 Kingston Rd.
Tickets are $26 for adults and $16 for youth and children. To order tickets, please go to https://toronto-beaches-childrens-youth-chorus.square.site/
For more information on the TBCYC, please contact info@tbcyc.com or visit the choir’s website at https://tbcyc.com/
