"Spring Sing Showcase" In Doylestown Benefits Child Abuse Prevention

DOYLESTOWN, PA — A group of talented young performers took to the stage Saturday afternoon to raise funds for the Beau Biden Foundation and to fight back against the darkness of child abuse by supporting outreach education and awareness.

During a two hour “Spring Sing Showcase” held inside the new Children’s Village Hubbard Playhouse six students from the Anne Odland Voice Studio presented a show-stopping performance that included Irving Berlin’s hauntingly beautiful, “What Are You Doing For the Rest of Your Life?,” the hit song from the Fantasticks “Try to Remember,” the ghostly sounds of “Unchained Melody,” and always a crowd favorite, “Over the Rainbow” from the Wizard of Oz.

Jackson Manning, a senior at Central Bucks West, performing "Love I Hear." (Photo by Jeff Werner)

Helena Badiali, a junior at Central Bucks East singing "The Sound of Music." (Photo by Jeff Werner)

Grace Powers, a sophomore at Central Bucks South, performs "Little Girls." (photo by Jeff Werner)

The show included a "who's who" of local talent, including Griffan Arbogast, a senior at Central Bucks West; Helena Badiali, a junior at Central Bucks East; Jackson Manning, a senior at Central Bucks West; Adrienne Nicastro, a sophomore at Lower Moreland High School; Amanda Phifer, a senior at Gwynedd Mercy Academy; and Grace Powers, a sophomore at Central Bucks South.

In addition to individual performances, the show included two ensemble numbers - "Get Back Up Again" from "Trolls" and "Imagine/We Are The World" by John Lennon, Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie.

The beauty of the afternoon's music stood in stark contrast to the cause that brought them together - the abuse of children. According to the Beau Biden Foundation, five children die from abuse each day, one in 10 children are sexually abused before they reach the age of 18, and 9 in 10 report being abused by someone they know.

“Today is about sharing wonderful music and bringing a huge light to this world and to this community that has been needed for a long, long time,” said Jackson Manning, a Central Bucks West senior and a survivor himself of sexual abuse who organized the event to support the work of the Beau Biden Foundation within the Doylestown community.

“I wondered if the Beau Biden Foundation was here in this capacity two or three years ago would what happened to me, happened to me? Not to sound dark, but yes. It still might have. Because while the foundation fights back, not all battles are easily won,” said Manning.

That's what drives Patricia Dailey Lewis, Esq., the CEO of the Beau Biden Foundation, forward as she carries out the wishes of the late Beau Biden who asked her to continue the fight against child sexual abuse after he's gone.

Lewis has been working closely with Doylestown Health’s Della Penna Pediatric Outreach Program to organize child abuse prevention workshops in the community that teach schools, youth-serving organizations, front line professionals, parents, and families how to protect children and confront abuse when it happens.

Patricia Dailey Lewis, Esq., the CEO of the Beau Biden Foundation. (Photo by Jeff Werner)

“These kids are amazing and I was honored when I was told that they would be raising money for the foundation and to protect other children. It’s really heartwarming,” said Lewis, who attended Sunday's performance.

“Beau Biden devoted his life to child abuse prevention,” said Lewis. “When he came to the Department of Justice in Delaware he came from the U.S. Attorney's office where he was working on child exploitation cases. So he was immediately very focused on preventing what was beginning to be a problem. Now it’s a nightmare. We’ve got 500,000 predators online at any given time. The average age of a gamer is 35 years old. So people think their kids are playing games against other kids when the likelihood is they could be playing games against a predator.

"When Beau passed away in 2015 he was running for governor," she relates. "He told me that we're going to do this when I'm governor. We're going to do this wherever I go. We're going to get the word out that child abuse can be prevented," said Lewis. "And then we had a case where a pediatrician raped more than 1,000 children. And we became very laser focused on education in the community, of recognition and reporting and grooming.

"You can stop this if you step up, if you know the signs, and you know that it's happening," she said. "We're talking about 1 in 10 children in this country will be molested before they are 18 years old."

Lewis praised Manning and the student performers for organizing and taking part in Sunday's event and supporting the cause. She also praised Manning for his bravery in standing up, although she is quick to point out, "It's not the child's responsibility to do that. It's the adults. That's why what we are doing through our workshops is so vitally important."

Manning said when he gets to that bad place where he gets a whiff of that familiar cologne or thinks he sees someone in the windshield of a car, he thinks of his supportive family, his extended family and his close friends.

"But most importantly I think of Ms. Patty because while she wasn’t part of me in the past she’s a huge piece of me today and will be for the rest of my life because not only did she bring comfort and love to someone who needed it but she is bringing hope. And hope is a very scarce thing in this world," he said. "Yet Patty has an abundance of it and through her program I believe truly that they will make a change in this community."

Adrienne Nicastro, a sophomore at Lower Moreland High School, performing "Over the Rainbow" from the Wizard of Oz. (Photo by Jeff Werner)

Griffan Arbogast, a senior at Central Bucks West singing "My Defenses Are Down" from "Annie Get Your Gun." (photo by Jeff Werner)

Amanda Phifer, a senior at Gwynedd Mercy Academy singing "What Are You Doing For the Rest of Your Life?" (Photo by Jeff Werner)