Moorestown Teens Perform Virtual Show For Quarantined Seniors

MOORESTOWN, NJ — With the outbreak of new coronavirus shutting down just about everything, seemingly everyone is going online for virtual experiences. This includes schooling, church services, hanging out with friends, and in Moorestown, performances for senior citizens.

Colin DiPasquale’s family has been active in the Moorestown community with their Tractor Trailer Challenge in 2017 and 2018, in which they ask the community to help them pack a tractor trailer to help victims of natural disasters.

The 14-year-old decided he would use his piano lessons to entertain the senior population, who otherwise can’t venture out for fun. So he started Senior Serenades, a program in which musical teens donate their time and talents entertaining local seniors at assisted living facilities, playing piano and various band instruments.

The program is part of the Local Acts of Kindness Foundation, a group the family formed on Nov. 13, 2019, which was World Kindness Day.

With the outbreak of new coronavirus and the restrictions it has placed on senior living facilities, they knew their scheduled performances would end up being canceled. That’s exactly what happened to their scheduled performance on Saturday at Brandywine Senior Living in Moorestown.

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"I don't want your residents to be disappointed and miss out on entertainment, especially now," DiPasquale told Brandywine Activities Director Rebecca Lentine upon learning of the cancellation.

And they weren’t. They didn’t have to miss out on any performances because he quickly began working on creating a virtual performance for them.

DiPasquale has a number of teens he works with on performances. In this case, he contacted fellow Moorestown High School freshmen Raghav Akula and Andy Chang. Akula plays saxophone and Chang plays violin.

They met one day earlier than scheduled, recorded their performance, edited it and uploaded it to the Internet. Lentine welcomed the idea and assured DiPasquale they would play the video in the facility's movie theater at their originally scheduled time of 2 p.m. Saturday.

“Since Senior Serenades volunteers are scheduled to visit several assisted living facilities over the next month, they will now send them the virtual version of the performance, along with a personalized intro for each place, so that the seniors will not miss out on entertainment during the pandemic,” said Nancy DiPasquale, Colin’s mother and president of the Local Acts of Kindness Foundation. “With the teens now recording themselves at their own homes (for safety), DiPasquale's plan is to continue producing new shows for senior citizens, varying songs and volunteer teen musicians and instruments, for online viewing, until in-person weekly visitation can resume at the local senior residences.”

The Local Acts of Kindness Foundation creates community challenges and programs encouraging kindness among neighbors. For more information on the foundation, visit their website.