Marilyn Bodenstein, a game lover, Dolly Parton aficionado, and holiday season appreciator, was one of a lucky group of people from AHRC NYC’s Queens-based Day Services programs to receive a customized musical composition from Songs of Love.
Marilyn loved beads and singing songs
Country music playing all day long
Reading puzzles, numbers feeling right
Curious mind shining bright
This foundation crafts free, personalized, original songs to uplift children, teens, and seniors who are navigating medical, cognitive, physical, or emotional challenges.
Giving Back to AHRC NYC Through Music
Johanna Silverio, Community Support Supervisor at Joseph T. Weingold Day Services, began working with Songs of Love when she was a student at Newtown High School in Elmhurst.
“To this day, I remember the young man’s name—Freddie Cruz,” Johanna recalled. “There were six of us. creating the song, writing the lyrics, then we got in front of the mic and we just performed. That was the catalyst for me to get into the social service field.”
Johanna stayed in touch with John Beltzer, the Songs of Love Founder, since her high school experience.
She said, “It always stayed with me how happy the song made Freddie. I wanted to give back to AHRC and give back to our Weingold and Cyril [Weinberg] and Without Walls family and have something beautiful that you guys can take home and share with your family.”
John expressed his excitement in working with AHRC New York City.
“I had this epiphany in 1996 walking down the street of my neighborhood in Forest Hills that I was going to do this charity to create personalized songs for children dealing with emotional and physical illnesses. From that moment on we just started growing and growing, and now we’ve written close to 50,000 songs and able to expand to seniors and all other people who need them.”
Loving the Songs
Family members and program staff submitted information to Songs of Love so that personalized tunes could come to life.
Lydia Oh, wearing a KPop Demon Hunters sweatshirt and a huge smile, bopped along as her song played:
And when you traveled to Korea with your family
New sights, new lights, living so beautifully
You keep showing up, doing your best
Volunteering with your staff, yeah, you’re blessed
Daniel Sutikino enjoyed his Beatles-inspired composition:
I see Corona Park, orbits full of motion, watching the wheels
Go round and round, scooters glide, wave hello to all the happy people
Celebrate our human dignity as we spread joy and community
Elizabeth Gibbens and her mom, Lillian, were on hand to hear a bouncy pop song inspired by Elizabeth’s love of pop culture, sports, and her family:
Lizzie, Lizzie, that’s your name
How we treasure that you came
Mom is here, your sister too
Both your brothers next to you
“Lizzie loves all things Disney so I thought the song and its sound were very fitting,” Lillian said. “It was beautiful. Honestly, I had to hold back tears a couple of times.”
