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| Development - Meet Our Donors |
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Adelle Kleiman-Levine and Ira Levine
“ It’s never too late to live out your dreams” are words Ira Levine takes
to heart. A lawyer by profession, Ira has been in love with the music
of Gershwin, Cole Porter, Johnny Mercer, Rogers and Hart and others
of “The American Songbook” since he can remember. He has always
wanted to express his feelings in song, and though he has no intention
of changing his profession, to make a recording of his favorite music was
one of his greatest dreams. It just so happened that Adelle, his wife of 43
years, was tuned-in to his dreams. “She probably knows me better than
I know myself,” says Ira. So, for his birthday, Adelle made his dream a
reality. With the help of friends — including an accomplished musician,
who arranged the music, chose songs that were best for Ira’s voice and
produced the CD; another who designed the CD cover; and a third
who designed and photographed the CD insert — she arranged to have
Ira record a CD of his favorite songs.
The project lasted from April to October 2009. When the final
recording was ready for its first release, Ira and Adelle wanted to enrich
the experience of those seven months by donating the proceeds of sales
to not-for-profi t organizations. “There is a double reward in living
ones dreams and helping well-deserving charities,” says Ira. When they
discussed where to donate the proceeds, the Alzheimer’s Association was
number one on the list.
Adelle Kleiman-Levine’s experience with Alzheimer’s began as it increasingly does for so
many: as a long-distance caregiver for her mother, who was diagnosed in her mid-eighties when
she was living in Florida. A Rehabilitation Therapist by training with a Masters in Healthcare
Management who has worked in the healthcare fi eld for most of her adult life — 20 years
in rehabilitation therapy with people diagnosed with a major mental illness — Ms. Kleiman-
Levine was not new to difficult challenges. But this was different. She went to seek help at the
Alzheimer’s Association, New York City Chapter in the mid 1990s and attended support groups,
seminars and caregiver groups to learn as much as she could about the disease. “The Chapter
was my savior,” she said. “I was so depressed, and the help I received was so important at the
time. I would never not be connected,” says Adelle. Her mother passed away in 2002.
Ira, whose father had Alzheimer’s disease and passed away in 1979, did not have the benefit of
the Chapter’s support. The Alzheimer’s Association was in its infancy and much less was known
about the disease.
After the CD’s release parties in Brooklyn and Columbia County with friends, business
associates, clients and acquaintances, checks totaling $5,030 — proceeds from a fantasy realized
— arrived at the Chapter. The donation was made in the name of Adelle’s mother.
Says Ira, “It’s never too late to live out your dreams: run with the bulls in Pamplona, play
three rounds at Saint Andrews, or sail away to Tahiti, whatever. Life is so short. Now is the time
to seize the day.”
For information on how to purchase the CD, Ira Levine; For Your Consideration, please go to our Shop for
Our Cause Web site: www.alznyc.org/shopforourcause.
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