I received an email from a woman named Beena last October, she wrote asking me to perform at a benefit concert for her daughter, Sonia, who had so much in common with me. About year before that Sonia Bawa (Beena’s daughter who had leukemia) had written a letter to President Bush asking him to take one day of funding for the Iraq War and divert that money into research for leukemia. One day of funding for the Iraq War would cover several years of leukemia research. In his response President Bush said that his administration had already increased the annual budget for leukemia research but he did not comment on Sonia's idea of diverting funding from the war into research. Sonia, determined to have her idea heard, created a website called PeaceIsTheCure.org and invited folks to write a letter to President Bush saying that one day of funding for the war would be better spent on finding a cure for leukemia. On her 16th Birthday, May 10th 2005, Sonia was planning on personally delivering to the President the first thousand letters she had received, but unfortunately she died just short of that goal in Januray 2005. When preparing for a celebration of Sonia's life on the one year anniversary of her death, Beena was doing an online search with the words 'SONIA' and 'PEACE' she found me and my website and asked me to come and sing at the celebration. I said yes, and on January 8th 2006 I performed for about 500 friends and family of Sonia’s and I fell in love with her cause. That is the story behind my affiliation with PeaceIsTheCure.org. In an effort to increase awareness (and contributions) for PeaceIsTheCure.org, we are now selling bracelets which benefit the organization. The other excellent detail here is that nearly 100% of of your $10.00 will go directly to the salaries of the scientists. I feel we are very close to the cure. I hope that you will come be part of the cure too. ~SONiA
