Take one Hollywood composer. Add 20 unseasoned pixies. Toss in some original music and a couple of crowd pleasers. Will serve about 630 students. This might sound like an unconventional recipe for an elementary school fund-raiser, but it's likely that kids at Cougar Ridge will never have more fun learning to help others.

Cougar Ridge annually holds a humanitarian outreach program, such as collecting books to send to less privileged schools, but this year Principal Susan Quick stumbled across a unique opportunity when she met a project coordinator for a professional musician and composer.

The coordinator, Matt Messina, is a native of Seattle who regularly travels from Los Angeles to Seattle to visit family.

About six years ago, a young daughter of one of his friends died of brain cancer, but not before staff at Children's Hospital and Regional Medical Center made the last year of her life as comfortable and joyous as possible, he said.

After the experience, Messina began playing the piano and singing with children at the hospital on a regular basis. But he had bigger plans. (continue to page 2)