I am a lifelong musician born and raised just north of NYC. I have been entertaining since I was seventeen. I started singing and playing organ and/or piano in churches which eventually led to a few bars locally. I received, to my great surprise, 3 scholarships to music-based universities (FAMU, Berklee U. in Boston, and Juilliard in New York City.) I wanted freedom so I chose FAMU. I graduated with a bachelor’s degree to teach vocal and instrumental music in public schools. After my graduation, I returned to NY and started teaching 7th and 8th graders. After 2 years I was invited to South Dakota to help a fellow musician from Virginia for supposedly five months. I bought a 1956 Caddy that was used as the family car in funeral processions for $100 and packed up my drum set, my trumpet, my Fender guitar, my huge Custom speakers, and my organ with 2 Leslie 145 speakers into the back of the huge Caddy and left for Sioux Falls by myself. But the agency asked me to perform as a soloist. The agency kept me booked back-to-back for 20+ years. I visited Mexico for 2 weeks and got permission to work for one week through a Mexican official. After 15 or so years, of working successfully all over Mexico, I found a steady job entertaining in a fantastic and high ranking hotel in Acapulco where I could live, sleep, and perform. After 2 years, that hotel was sold, and I received an offer to accept a job in one of the best hotels in Cancun before leaving the country which I was planning to do, which also lasted for 2 years under contract. The pay was a lot higher there so I bought an old car thinking I might settle down there. That job at that super hotel started winding down but, before it ended I got invited to Marbella, Spain where I was hired to perform seasonally for 3 years, and then Portugal, and then to France and Amstedam and Switzerland, Thailand and than other places in other countries. I finally landed in Palm Beach, Florida a few years before lockdowns thwarted our plans. This is where I am now and I am healthy and able to commit to much more in these so-called senior years. Out of my 76 years, I have dedicated 55 years of service entertaining with my special talents. My salary used to be quite enough and it could still be if only I can get past some of the recent setbacks like lockdowns, restrictions, and higher prices we’ve all been subjected to. I have other projects waiting on the sidelines that I find overwhelmingly difficult to start with a lack of financial support. My financial status keeps spiraling in the wrong direction but, I won’t be stopped. Replacing and/or fixing equipment that desperately needs repair, servicing, and maintaining an older car, and the need to finish with dental work seems like wishful thinking for the moment. I believe that with some significant donations I can return to the position of being comfortably self-sustaining. I send love and blessings to all and encouragement to those with similar circumstances.