Concert on Jan. 12 to benefit Chesterfield first-grader
By Jane Meggitt, Special Writer
Get ready to rock for a good cause.
On Saturday, Jan. 12 a concert to help a Chesterfield first-grader diagnosed with cancer will be held in the West Windsor-Plainsboro High School South Theater. The fundraiser is the brainchild of Jared Glassband, 12, a seventh-grade student at Pond Road Middle School in Robbinsville, and his friend Eli Bramnick, 12, of West Windsor. Both boys are also students at the Princeton School of Rock in Hamilton, where Jared takes a three-hour lesson each week, studying guitar and bass.
The concert features the Princeton School of Rock’s ZTeam, consisting of high school students, however, Jared will be performing in several of the songs, including the Beatles’ “I Want to Hold Your Hand” and a “Hard Day’s Night.” The concert will raise money to help the family of 6-year old Samara Sheller, a first-grader at Chesterfield Elementary School, who has cancer.
Jared explained that Samara’s mother, Dara Sheller, had to recently stop working as a teacher in the West Windsor-Plainsboro School District to take care of Samara, and that Samara’s medication and the prosthetic leg she needs cost a lot of money.
”Their insurance won’t pay for all of it,” Jared said. “We want to raise money so they don’t have to worry,” he said.
According to Jared’s mother, Ellin, Jared is encouraged to do 13 hours of outreach of any kind to prepare for his bar mitzvah in February. “Our family has been deeply affected by Samara’s illness, so he decided to do something to alleviate the family’s medical expenses,” she said. While the Jan. 12 fundraiser counts toward his outreach hours, Jared said he would have put together the concert anyway.
For the past six months, Samara has been undergoing aggressive chemotherapy and will continue to do so for the next six months, according to her mother. Several months ago, she had her right leg amputated just above the knee, but the little girl is a fighter.
”She can’t wait to get her prosthetic leg so she can get back on the dance floor. She is determined to turn adversity into achievement,” Ms. Sheller said. She adds that her daughter is artistic and a natural born storyteller, who loves fashion, the color pink and princesses.
Ms. Sheller and Ellin Glassband met when the latter joined the language arts department at West Windsor-Plainsboro High School South 12 years ago. Jared has known Samara all of her life.
”I have pictures of Jared with Samara when she was an infant,” Ms. Sheller said. “Jared always took a patient interest in Samara, encouraging her to walk and talk when she was little. Our families vacationed together, and spent a lot of good times,” Ms. Sheller recalls.
Ms. Sheller also taught Eli’s sister, Sophie, in a freshman class last year. “Sadly, (Sophie’s class) was one of the classes I had to say goodbye to early when Samara was diagnosed with cancer at the very end of April. I feel really honored that Sophie’s younger brother wants to help us in this way,” Ms. Sheller said.
Ms. Sheller said she was overwhelmed with emotion at Jared and Eli’s kindness.
”When a boy makes his bar mitzvah, he takes full responsibility for the way in which he conducts himself in the world,” Ms. Sheller said. “What can I say about these boys who have worked so hard in preparation for this concert and whose only motivation is to help a small girl and her family? I feel their love and I know that they are ready to live their lives in an exemplary way. They’re mensches,” she said, using the Yiddish word for a person of integrity and honor.
The Rock ZTeam concert to benefit the Sheller family, which had to be rescheduled from its original date because of Hurricane Sandy, will be held from 7 to 8 p.m., Saturday, Jan. 12 at West Windsor-Plainsboro High School South’s Theater, 346 Clarksville Road, West Windsor. Tickets cost $10 and will be sold at the door.
For more information, or to make a donation to help defray Samara’s medical costs, go online to www.glitterlemonade.com/fundraiser/samara.

