This Sunday, April 11, performing artists from across Long Island and beyond will pull out all the stops in what promises to be Long Island's largest fundraiser for the victims of the earthquake in Haiti. "Help for Haiti: Island to Island, Heart to Heart," an all-day extravaganza for music lovers of all ages, will take place at Huntington's Cinema Arts Centre.

The event, which was two months in the making, is the brainchild of singer/songwriter Patricia Shih, who has lived in Huntington for 29 years.

Shih said that she began to think about doing a fundraiser after reading firsthand accounts of the disaster in Haiti forwarded to her by a friend, a pediatric ICU nurse at Stanford University Hospital.

Shih said that she was incredibly moved by these personal accounts, some of which were written by doctors on the scene. Although she had already made a donation to aid the relief effort, Shih said that she knew that she had to do more, and began to think of hosting a benefit concert.

"What I do best is music," Shih said of her songs which tend to shine a spotlight on ideas and issues while uplifting audiences and infusing them with hope.

With these ideas in mind, Shih sent an email blitz to friends, family and fans , asking those interested in helping Haiti to get back to her.

Her idea clearly struck a chord because within 24 hours, she had received 40 replies, and the event took off from there.

We have 21 acts, more than 80 volunteers, and we have received donations for the silent auction from individuals and businesses both locally and across the country, Shih indicated, adding that the level of dedication is such that performers are traveling in from Connecticut, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and New Hampshire.

Variety will be the name of the game, with the music cutting across a plethora of genres, including folk, jazz, rock, blues, classical, and swing, Shih added.

The event kicks off at 2 pm with a family concert hosted by Darren Sardelli, aka the "funny poet." The drumming troupe, Hip Pickles, and Dr. Planet who sings about science, will be among the children's performers. Shih, the multi-award winning singer/songwriter and master of five instruments who has delighted audiences across the country, will also perform.

The evening concert designed for adults runs from 6 to 8 pm and will be hosted by disk jockey John Platt. The headliner is rising blues star Toby Walker, who is traveling in from New Jersey. Also featured will be Long Island singer/songwriters Martha Trachtenberg and Tom Griffith, and Gathering Times' Hillary Foxsong and Stuart Markus.

This concert includes a special teen showcase which Shih expects may steal the show. The M Train (whom Shih describes as "teen prodigies on the sax and the guitar"), singer/songwriters Breanna and Kira Metcalf-Oshinsky and Linda Ray's Huntington Cabaret will be among those strutting their talent.

Like Shih, Linda Ray and her husband, Patrick Keeffe, who are handling publicity for the event, have deep roots in Huntington.

Ray teaches her students the somewhat lost art of "telling a story through lyrics," she explained. Her company's performance will include two solos, "Trolley" and the heartrending "I'll Imagine You a Song." She expects that the audience will find the Beatles song, "In My Life," sung by a group of ten teens, to be particularly touching.

The piece de resistance, Shih says, will be a dance featuring the 1950s- 1960s rock band Squeaky Clean and The Jumpers Swing Orchestra which kicks off at 8 pm.

"This rock and roll band played at my wedding," Shih said of Squeaky Clean, adding that she is personally very excited about hearing the Jumpers Orchestra.

In terms of the silent auction, the overflowing bounty of donations runs the gamut from artwork and jewelry to restaurant gift certificates, foreign language lessons, gym memberships and more. Ray will be making up a "cabaret basket" that will appeal to music lovers.

Shih speculated that what she calls her little seed of an idea grew because many people wanted to help, but didn't know what to do. Because the event is bringing so many people together, the whole will be more than the sum of its parts, she said.

"I am astounded at the level of support," Shih said, indicating that she thinks the disaster really stuck home because "Haiti is the poorest country in our hemisphere and they had nothing to start with."

She is particularly grateful to Vic Skolnick and Charlotte Skye, co-directors and founders of the Cinema Arts Centre, for their role in bringing the event to fruition.

"They donated the space, their staff, their time, their talent," she said of the pair's boundless generosity.

In addition to this all-out effort to help Haiti, Shih said that she also wanted to include the local element of collecting food for Long Island Cares, and she asks that each guest bring at least one non-perishable food item.

The Cinema Arts Centre is located at 423 Park Ave. Advance tickets are strongly suggested as seating is limited. There is a separate admission charge for each event. Tickets may be purchased at the Cinema Arts Centre, by calling Brown Paper Tickets, (1-800-838-3006) or online at www.brownpapertickets.com. The admission is $15 for adults and $8 for children under the age of 12, plus the food donation.

Proceeds from the event will benefit Doctors Without Borders, an international, independent humanitarian group that administers emergency medical care around the world. To make a donation to this very worthy cause even if you can't attend, Shih says that you can send a check made payable to Doctors Without Borders and mail it to Help for Haiti c/o Patricia Shih, P.O. Box 1554, Huntington, NY 11743 as soon as possible.

For more information, call Ray or Keeffe at 673-5577 or Shih at 549-2332.