On Monday night, The Canopy Club hosted a special Piano Man performance and partnered with Illini 4000 to raise money for cancer treatment organizations.
Illini 4000 is a student-run organization in which students bike from New York to San Francisco over the summer for The Portraits Project, interviewing people who have experienced cancer as patients or caretakers.
The group documents these stories as it travels across the country and raises money for beneficiaries, such as the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation and the Andrew McDonough B+ Foundation.
“I think it’s remarkable that everyone cares to the degree of taking time out of their daily lives to contribute as much effort as it takes to run a nonprofit,” said Veronica Kozak, Illini 4000 director of fundraising. “I love that, as a student, I could be part of a non-profit that helps people, and we can see the help we give through the organizations we donate to.”
Nicole Tchorz, a member of Illini 4000 who helped organize the event, said she wanted to partner with The Canopy Club to help draw in more support for the cause. She knew Piano Man would be an ideal performer to partner with.
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“Piano Man is very laid back,” Tchorz said. “He always has good vibes. I think overall, partnering with The Canopy Club is a good move because we both have positive vibes and think we’d be able to bring people to support a cause.”
Tchorz said her hope for the event was to promote Illini 4000 to the campus community and spread the word about their cause.
“I’m sure a lot of people already know about it, but it’s always nice to get more word of Illini 4000 out,” Tchorz said. “So that more people are aware of it … and are hopefully willing to help donate or by sharing their stories.”
When asked about the process of getting in touch with The Canopy Club and organizing the event, Kozak mentioned that Tchorz was the driving force behind it.
“It was all Nicole,” Kozak said. “Truthfully I’m just here to help the riders themselves decide how they want to fundraise. Nicole was the one who reached out to Canopy, whether it was for a donation or possible collaboration, and they were really up for it.”
Andrew Simek, the Piano Man, expressed great interest in and excitement about the opportunity to work with Illini 4000.
“We really want this to be a vehicle for the community and live music,” Simek said. “But also for things like Illini 4000 in conjunction with them to get a really good message and good cause out there.”
Simek informed the audience of the group’s presence at the event and encouraged the audience to donate if they could. He hopes to continue working on community outreach projects and partnering with charities.
“There’s a lot of good ones in the area, especially so closely affiliated with the University,” Simek said. “I know there’s a lot of University charitable organizations that I’m hoping to get in touch with.”
Simek’s engaging performance and presence aligned well with Illini 4000 and its mission.
“It’s a pretty low-key gig, more or less,” Simek said. “But it just has a lot of opportunity to do something good for the community beyond just being a fun evening of music.”
Illini 4000 expressed interest in partnering with other venues and artists to continue to elevate their platform and message.
“Illini 4000 is an amazing club,” Tchorz said. “Everyone should look into it if they have a story to share because it really does make a difference and it makes a huge impact on other people’s lives with what we do.”
