It all started last year at Los Gatos High School when Ben became involved with the school's canned food drive. He felt it was such a positive project, he wanted to see it continue. So he got together with some of his fellow students who shared his sentiments, and they started the Community Club on their campus.

"The club will work on two projects throughout the year," says Ben, 17, a senior at the high school. One will be the food drive, he says. For the other project, Ben wanted to do something in remembrance of his grandmother, who died five years ago after a long struggle with Parkinson's disease and had also lost her father and brother to the fatal illness.

Parkinson's disease is associated with damage to a part of the brain that is involved with movement. It is a disorder characterized by shaking, or tremors, and difficulty with walking, movement and coordination. According to medical journals, the disease affects approximately two out of every 1,000 people, and most often develops after the age of 50. It is one of the most common neurological disorders of the elderly.

The students of the Community Club racked their brains to think of a project to help raise money for Parkinson's disease research. It finally hit them—so many of them were musicians, why not put on a concert? They could choose the songs themselves, and raise money through ticket sales.

"We used to have concerts at school at the end of every year, but last year we didn't have one, so we thought we could put one on," says Lisa Xue, 17, a senior and member of the club. "The concert will allow us to show our musical abilities to the school, and we can share classical music with them. We don't get much of that in school."

Ben says the repertoire for the concert will be a mixture of classical, jazz and contemporary songs by composers such as Chopin, Rachmaninoff, Bach and more. In addition to the 10 students from the Community Club, other accomplished musicians have been added to the program as well—Emily Lu, Ph.D., Marta C. Gonzalez, Ph.D. and Peter Thompson.

The concert will take place at 7 p.m. on Jan. 21, at the Saratoga Federated Church, located at 20390 Park Place at the corner of Highway 9. Admission for students and children is $5, and general admission is $10.

Los Gatos High School students performing in the concert are Ben Johnson, Lisa Wong, Gene and Grace Huh, Lisa Xue, Richard Sears, Nicole Rodriguez, Cassie Peppard, Laura Garnett and Shawn Moore.

For more information or ticket sales, call Lisa Xue at 408.656.9076.