Songs Of Love Hits 10,000th In 10th Year

Walking down the street in early 1996, an idea suddenly came to John Beltzer, an accomplished singer/songwriter, that would deeply touch many lives. As a way of providing sick children with a source of inspiration, joy, and possibly even healing, he set out to create personalized one-of-a-kind songs for them.
Beltzer quickly got busy gathering a team of songwriters and performers from across the country to compose and record the unique songs. The Songs of Love Foundation, the only nonprofit organization of its kind, was founded shortly afterwards, and to date has recruited a group of over 350 talented artists nationwide.
Now in its 10th year, the organization produced its 10,000th song on September 8.
The ten thousandth song was prepared for a 14 year old suffering from sickle cell anemia and was performed in front of 20,000 people at a Black Eyed Peas concert in Darien Lakes, New York.
Collaborating with more than 300 hospitals, private health-care institutions, and with various individual families, they have produced intimate musical portraits(which are never duplicated) for thousands of children and teens.
Each song is delivered on a CD and contains the child’s name and all the people, pets, interests and things they love in their lives.
“We have reached out to children in all 50 states,” said Beltzer. &#8220Aside from providing a cure, I feel that giving a child a Song of Love really helps in dealing with their illness. These are not ‘get-well cards;' these songs encapsulate who they are and all the things they like to do. The songs are one-of-a-kind, personalized from scratch, and in any language a child chooses.”  
As word gets out about the high quality of their work, more and more requests for special songs keep coming into the Songs of Love office. However, the mission always remains the same: keep giving encouragement and love to those who need it most through the medicine of music.
“A song lasts forever, because it keeps giving encouragement. These songs keep the child’s spirit alive. They celebrate the child.” For more information or to make a donation, call 1-800-960-S-O-N-G or visit www.songsoflove.org.