Rocco Fiorentino, the inspiration of TLRF
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HI EVERYONE!
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January, 16, 2008
Thank You!
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Rocco is one of the
3 finalists who was picked for this award.
He has won
$10,000 that will be donated to The Little Rock
Foundation!
![Voting is over Click For [Volvo for Life Awards]](common/Buttons/RoccoPg/button39.jpg){kind=small}
When meeting 11 year old Rocco Fiorentino, it’s easy to be captivated by his dimpled smile and charming style! It’s just as impressive to listen to him play piano, perhaps a jazz composition he composed, or sing one of his favorite jazz standards. Added to his talent on the piano is the drums and sax. Plus, he has perfect pitch, which is understandable since music was piped into his incubator during the early months of his premature life. Rocco Fiorentino was born four months early, weighing only one and a half pounds. He spent the first six months of his life at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and, after 12 surgeries he was released with no sight. Rocco was born with sight, but lost his vision due to the high levels of oxygen needed to keep him alive. And, knowing this, it makes it even more incredible that this young man awakes with a smile and doesn’t understand negative thinking. With this outlook on life, he’s already a “star,” but watching him on stage, his star quality is even more evident. A natural born showman, the one instrument his parents would prefer he not play is guitar so he doesn’t damage his fingertips, vital to his ability to read Braille. Rocco has been performing for years, but perhaps most exciting was his recent appearance at Birdland, the famed music club in New York. Performing in Jim Caruso’s Cast Party where guests are invited to sing one song, the crowds cheered, he was asked to sing a second song and then Jim asked him to return to Birdland as often as he likes! In the Cast Party at Birdland newsletter, Jim Caruso said, “Perhaps most thrilling was a performance by a very cool ten-year old kid named Rocco Fiorentino. Rocco sings like a bird, has perfect pitch, plays piano and drums...and has been blind since birth. You can't know how he captivated the crowd at Birdland. He made a very entertaining night extra-special, and we can't thank him enough!" The inspiration behind The Little Rock Foundation, a non-profit organization that his parents formed to support other children who are visually impaired or blind, Rocco is a guest speaker at schools and senior groups, sharing his life’s experiences, demonstrating how to use a Braille writer and bringing a copy of one of his favorite books, Harry Potter, written in Braille. Truly an inspiration, he says about his school experiences, “I like to visit schools because the more people who know about blindness, the better.” When asked how the students react, he said, “Some kids say, ‘Braille is really neat! It’s like a secret code.’ I’m glad I can help increase their awareness.” Besides visiting schools, Rocco has made an impact on government, increasing allotments for services for the blind and visually impaired. When he was only five years old, he addressed legislators at a local budget hearing for the Department of Human Services to increase awareness about Braille Literacy for the New Jersey Commission for the Blind & Visually Impaired. Rocco was credited with saving the budget for the Commission that year. The following year, Rocco spoke at a budget hearing for the Department of Education. He talked about the lack of services he was receiving from the State of NJ, and he was so impressive that he was asked to speak again, this time at the State House in Trenton to address the legislators about Braille Literacy. After this speech, he received a standing ovation from both parties, Republicans and Democrats, and the NJ Department of Human Services received $900,000 to increase Braille services to blind and visually impaired children across the state. Today, Rocco, an honor student at Signal Hill Elementary School in Voorhees, NJ, is busy with his friends and supporting charities like March of Dimes, for which he is a spokesperson for their premature babies’ campaign and Variety – the Children’s Charity. He is honored to have received such awards as the Braille Literacy Award Library of Congress & Library for the Blind & Handicapped, the Philadelphia 76er's Hometown Hero and he was the youngest recipient ever of a Camden County Proclamation Award. And, when not studying and doing “good works”, he’s playing gigs or singing the National Anthem at sports and other public events. Highlights of 2007 include appearances throughout the country from Colorado to the east coast, singing the national anthem at a Philadelphia Phillies game, helping to open the new Wildwood, NJ amphitheater and singing with the Phyllies Intruders, a performance at Sesame Place, the nation’s only theme park based on Sesame Street, and Please Touch Museum, the children’s museum in Philadelphia, to name only a few. Standing ovations are almost standard for this singer. Rocco takes an occasional day off school, with permission, to do work for the foundation and visit students in schools. But, mostly, when not doing school work or hanging out with friends, he can be found in the music studio or the grand piano of their home with that fabulous smile, crooning a Frank Sinatra tune or writing another jazz composition that makes it hard to believe this musician is only ten years old.
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