Anjela Gerardo could have just had a 16th birthday party.
Instead, she decided to try something different: organizing and performing in a benefit concert to help children in need.
Anjela will be taking to the stage at Massey Theatre - along with a host of other musical friends and colleagues - for These Dreams, a benefit for the Make a Wish Foundation of B.C. and Yukon, on Nov. 6.
Anjela, who's in Grade 11 at Burnaby Central Secondary School, offers up a simple explanation for her decision to host a benefit concert.
"I just like helping people," she says. "When people need me, I help them."
The soft-spoken teen with the big smile has been singing her whole life - her mom, Jocelyn, says she has always sung and danced at family gatherings and birthday parties, ever since she was tiny.
Anjela has taken part in some singing competitions, including winning the Edmonds city fair talent title in 2009.
But she admits, shyly, that she doesn't talk a lot about her singing life.
"Only my closest friends know that I sing," she says.
She's passionate about singing, she says, because it offers so many rewards.
"It takes a lot off my mind. It makes me concentrate on one thing and not a whole bunch of others," she explains, then adds with a grin, "and it's fun."
Anjela is no stranger to the idea of singing for a cause. She held a benefit concert in 2007 to help abandoned children in the Philippines, and another in 2009 as a fundraiser for her church, Lakeview Multicultural United.
This year's desire to help the Make a Wish Foundation was motivated by her particular desire to reach out to children - helping kids is her passion, and she has her sights set on becoming a pediatric nurse in the future.
She and her mom, Jocelyn, brainstormed some ideas, and Anjela thought of Make a Wish, which had in the past helped out a close family friend, Andrew Lamigo.
Andrew, who's now 13, got his wish - a family trip to Disney World - when he was four years old. Andrew, incidentally, is now doing well. He's living with a rare condition called hemolytic anemia, for which he must receive monthly transfusions, but he's in Grade 8 and living an active life.
His story inspired Anjela, as did another story she heard about Make a Wish, when some youngsters with a dream to be bakers had a chance to take part in the reality TV show Cake Boss.
"It helps sick kids reach their dreams," Anjela explains.
She and her mom are hoping that the concert will raise at least $6,000 - enough to grant one wish for a B.C. child.
To help reach that goal, they've worked with Anjela's vocal coach, Kikz de Leon, to assemble a big cast of performers.
Anjela will be joined on stage by 1Voice, DSOUNDMYX, J.J. Cepeda, Andrea Legaspi, Jeremiah Salvacion, KMZ Singers, Jessel Alejo, Wyngail Ramos, Nina Ruiz, Jay Esplana, George Ontal, Rosario Strings and Jojo Alpuerto.
There will be a variety of music offered, some Filipino but mostly in English, and mostly upbeat.
"There's going to be a lot of dancing," Anjela says with a smile.
The show will feature familyfriendly performances that Jocelyn says should appeal to all ages.
And they're hoping to pack the theatre so that they can raise as much money as possible for Make a Wish.
These Dreams is on Nov. 6. It's set to start at 6: 30 p.m. at the Massey Theatre, 735 Eighth Ave.
Tickets are $15 and available at the door. For tickets or information, call Jocelyn at 778-869-5352, or see www.masseytheatre.com.
For more about Make a Wish, see www.makeawishbc.ca.
