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Dear Friends, 

     It’s that time of year, where I put myself out there with a challenge to help protect kids by supporting ECPAT-USA. This year? I combined my passion for music with my passion for ECPAT-USA’s mission to prevent child trafficking and exploitation to create: The Cello Challenge! Is the cello purely a classical music instrument? Or can it do more? Over the past few weeks I invited you to submit your song requests to test my theory that there is no genre that cannot be played on the cello. I committed to playing and recording a minimum of ten of the song requests entered! Thanks to the enthusiasm, imagination and mild sadism of my supporters (you know who you are!) we have reached our song capacity, and I will not be accepting new song requests at this point. However, the fundraiser is still open and your support and generosity are very much appreciated! I still have a few very challenging songs to record, so be sure to check back over the next week or two to listen. Given the constraints on my free time, most of the songs were played with a “karaoke style” accompaniment. That said, I did take the time to record multiple parts of several songs (a huge thank you to my Dad for the many hours of editing work involved):

1. Check out the featured cello rendition of Stevie Wonder’s “I Wish” (the fourth video toggle above).

2. I can now share that the "Mystery" heavy metal track (the seventh video toggle above) was 'Killing in the Name" by Rage Against the Machine! Congratulations to all those who guessed correctly! 

3. An enormous thank you to Bob Austrian for joining me on The Devil Went Down to Georgia, and for editing the video so professionally!

4. L'il Darlin' by Count Basie. This was one of the more challenging songs. While not flashy like The Devil, it was not easy to capture the essence of the ballad. In an ideal world I would have added another two or three voices to the four depicted, but I have a full time job, kids, household chores...etc. 

          All funds raised go to support ECPAT-USA's programs that prevent child sex trafficking and exploitation. This is more important than ever. Analysis confirms that reports of child exploitation - in particular online exploitation - have skyrocketed during the pandemic. ECPAT-USA has been laser-focused on developing appropriate resources to protect kids. As a Board member and parent, this is particularly meaningful to me, and I invite you to check out our latest work, including our advocacy on behalf of child sex trafficking victim Zephi Treviño, our Survivor Perspectives series, and online safety guides. 

     Thank you for supporting the protection of children! 

Warm wishes,

Sharon