Musically-Gifted LI Teen's Generosity Is Helping The World: 'I'm In A Good Position'

FARMINGDALE, NY — A Farmingdale teenager is using his penchant for the piano for a smorgasbord of good. His latest deed: Helping disabled veterans walk again.

Mariano Schwartz, 16, performs at 317 Main Street on Saturdays when he's not performing his table-bussing duties. The St. Anthony's High School sophomore donates every cent of his tips to charity. Since Jan. 7, Schwartz has raised $10,000 for the Bronx Veterans Medical Research ReWalk program, which designs exoskeleton walking suits that enable disabled veterans to stand up and walk again.

Schwartz is set to perform 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. on June 24, and he plans to give donations to disabled veterans who will get up and walk over to him using the technology the wunderkind is helping to fund.

Schwartz could have set out to donate a portion of his tips and would have still been seen as generous. Instead, he opts to give 100 percent of his donations to various charitable causes.

"I’m in a good position right now," Schwartz told Patch. "I’m not poor or in need of any extra cash. I feel instead of hoarding this money to myself that I’m probably never going to really use or not use that much, I can give it to someone or some organization that definitely needs every cent they can get."

Brian Schwartz, Mariano's father, is a financial advisor. He said he is "more than proud" of his son for his decision.

"My entire universe exists around numbers," Brian said. "Where I immediately deferred to 10 percent or 50 percent, he reminded me of humanity that I may have lost. So it exceeded pride. It was almost like the student teaching the teacher at that point."

A client of Brian's participated in a one-mile marathon for recipients of the ReWalk program almost a decade ago. Schwartz took his children; Mariano wasn't older than 7 or 8 at the time. The image stuck with him, and when he was determining his next cause, asked his father if he could speak with the client who ran the marathon.

"I was so amazed by seeing it," Mariano said. "And when I decided to donate, I was like, 'I can donate to this and make it better and make it more helpful and make it easier for everyone.'"

Brian said his son is "very scientific" outside just music.

"He was not only fascinated by the fact that disabled people were provided the ability to proudly stand up and walk again, but I think he was fascinated by the tech and the mechanics involved in making this work."

Schwartz works for Chef Eric LeVine, a partner at 317 Main Street whose culinary skills earned him the 2023 Bethpage Best Award title of Best Chef on Long Island. LeVine, who continues to compete on food shows, has fought cancer five times and won each battle. He helps others who are fighting cancer and knows what it means to give back. The chef praised his employee, Mariano, for doing the same.

"This young man exemplifies what's great in America," LeVine said. "His willingness to help others by using his art is very encouraging and gives me faith in the American youth."

Mariano has also donated to Razom for Ukraine, which helps Ukrainians defending against Russian invaders; a fundraiser aiding Uvalde families after the mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in May 2022; and Puerto Rico after it was hit by Hurricane Maria in 2017.

Mariano, along with friends Ryan Loughlin and Aidan Hamilton, raised $4,000 for the Bahamas after the country was devastated by Hurricane Dorian in summer 2019.

The young pianist has collected an additional $14,000 in tips, on top of the $10,000 for the ReWalk program, that he plans to disperse to other charities and causes. He's raised the funds through playing songs from Guns N' Roses, Led Zeppelin, Linkin Park, and many other groups.

Mariano keenly observes current events when choosing prospective causes. If he sees people struggling through no fault of their own, he feels compelled to help.

"Like the exoskeleton one, I usually think of things that I’ve seen or experienced, go through a list of charities and see which one speaks to me the most," Mariano said. "Which one represents my ideals. Which ones I want to donate to."

Brian finds it "fascinating" that his son witnesses other people's crises and tragedies and immediately wants to step in.

"The gears turn to where he says, 'That’s where I want to go next to help someone,'" Brian said. "I find that very emotionally inspiring. It’s amazing that the mind works that way."

Brian said he guided his son to focus his philanthropic efforts. In the beginning, they would count the money in the bucket and donate. Rinse and repeat. The ReWalk project was the first time the Schwartz family created a goal and worked toward it. Mariano plans to announce his next goal on June 24.

Brian recalled a time when Mariano was very young. While he was not reluctant to play piano, he was of playing in front of people.

"I said to him, 'God gives every one of us a gift. However, God has this tremendous sense of humor, because he doesn’t tell us what the gift is. It’s our job to find it. And once we find it, we have to use that gift to be a service to others.' I don’t think he’s ever forgotten that."

Mariano would play the piano beautifully, but his audience was either himself or his family. Brian planted the seeds that blossomed into Mariano pollinating the world with goodwill and aid.

"It took a lot of begging and convincing that, 'You really need to share this. God gave you this. This was meant to share,'" Brian said. "I think slowly but surely, he’s become less reluctant and actually more outright willing to say, 'Hey, listen, I could do this, and if it’s benefiting others, I want to do it even more.'"

Perhaps it is Mariano's initial reluctance to share his gift that makes his favorite part of using his talent all the more impressive: the looks he gets from younger kids watching him on stage.

"I’m seeing their faces and seeing them be so inspired," Mariano said. "It’s one of those things that always gets me to smile. It’s just so cool, thinking that I probably inspired some kid to play piano, as well."

The teenager has already undeniably helped people across the world in tangible ways, whether through storm relief, enabling those who sacrificed so much for the U.S. to have the privilege of walking again, or softening the blow of major tragedies. And Mariano said he feels grateful for having the chance to do so.

"Playing and donating my money to organizations always makes me happy knowing that I do help and that I am impacting the world in a positive way."