The North Hills Middle School Concert Choir performed a rendition of Coldplay's "Fix You" in support of Children's Awareness Day, which is Thursday, Nov. 17, 2022.
Created in 2008 by Pittsburgh-based Highmark Caring Place, Children's Grief Awareness Day aims to bring awareness to the needs of grieving children and the benefits of the support of others.
This year, the Highmark Caring Place is encouraging everyone to take their Holding on to HOPE pledge to show grieving children “I care and I am here.”
“When someone we love dies, it hurts, sometimes more than we ever thought it could hurt. Although it can seem as if the intense pain will never go away, it can ease over time. Grief lasts a lifetime—we will miss them forever—but there is HOPE,” their website states.
Coldplay’s “Fix You” is fittingly appropriate for this Holding on to HOPE pledge as lead singer Chris Martin penned the song following the death of his then-wife Gwyneth Paltrow's father to help her through the grief.
In the middle school’s performance, shown in the music video below, students are displaying “Holding on to HOPE” placards on which they wrote words and phrases to show who they’re holding on to hope for and how, and we couldn’t love this more!
Highmark Caring Place was founded in 1996 to provide support to children and families who have had a family member die. There are currently four locations in western and central Pennsylvania.
Children's Grief Awareness Day, recognized today by organizations around the world, is observed every year on the third Thursday in November, one week before the Thanksgiving holiday. The date is significant since the holiday season is an especially difficult time after the death of a loved one.
The NHMS Concert Choir is made up of select sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders and we thank them and their director, NHMS music teacher Tom Hartwell, for their effort in supporting this important day!