Fund-raising concert
to help Melveen Leed
with medical bills
Hey there, friend, can you spare $20 for Melveen Leed?
Leed, who has donated her time and talent to several charity shows and fund-raisers for others in Hawaii through the years, now needs some karmic payback, since a gig that started out as a Hawaii promotion aboard the Norwegian Cruise Line ship, Pride of Aloha, ended up as near-death experience when she suffered from arrhythmia tachycardia (potentially fatal rapid and irregular heartbeat) after a June 12 performance.
Emergency medical treatment saved her, but a six-day stay in "the worst hospital I had ever been in," in Los Angeles, left Leed burdened with more than $40,000 in uninsured medical bills on top of the $2,500 the hospital required her to come up with before allowing her to leave.
Like many entertainers, she is self-employed, and, as she often jokes, her four ex-husbands didn't leave her rolling in money. A golfing fund-raiser held July 12 helped whittle away some of the debt, and now Hawaii's entertainers are throwing a second fund-raiser for her in the Ainahau Showroom at the Sheraton Princess Kaiulani on Sunday.
The show is scheduled to start at 11 a.m. and continue to 3 p.m. Expect to see a cross-section of local superstars, celebrities, journeyman entertainers and maybe even a few "unknowns," all doing their part to help defray Leed's medical expenses.
Help a sistah!
Fund-raiser for Melveen Leed:Where: Ainahou Ballroom, Sheraton Princess Kaiulani Hotel
When: 11 a.m. Sunday
Tickets: $20
Call: 864-5454
If the event is anything like her birthday party last Sunday (see "On the Scene" on facing page), she'll be onstage and in the center of the musical whirlwind for most of the show.
Can't go on Sunday? Additional contributions can be made by sending checks payable to "Friends of Melveen Leed" to Tihati Productions, 3615 Harding Ave. Suite 509, Honolulu HI 96816.
Perhaps Norwegian Cruise Lines will kokua with a contribution as well.
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