Bolingbrook Teen Hosting Benefit Concert for Avon Walk for Breast Cancer

An 18-year-old from Bolingbrook will host a benefit concert for the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer Sunday. 

"Rock for a Cure" will take place from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. at Game Pazzo in Downers Grove. 

Kayla Miller is a two-time alumna of the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer. It is the second time she is producing a benefit concert to raise money for the event. 

"I started raising money for the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer when I heard a commercial on the radio," Miller said. "The walk sounded so inspiring and fun, I could not resist."

It wasn't until after she signed up, Miller said, that her aunt and great-grandma died after battling breast cancer. Miller also has a cousin who has been diagnosed with breast cancer.

"Rock for a Cure" features six local bands. All proceeds will go toward her required fundraising goal of $1,800. 

"Fundraising is no longer something I do just for fun or as an extra circular activity. I don't even think of it as fundraising," Miller said. "Being a supporter and advocate for the cause has become something I have to do, because there is no part of me that wants to do otherwise."

Miller is a senior in high school who will graduate next year with her associate's degree. She has been home-schooled since first grade. She has performed with an off-Broadway musical in Chicago for four years and studied at musical theater conservatories in New York. 

She used her connections with the local music community to make Rock for a Cure happen, she said. 

"Our goal is to use the local band community to spread awareness to a new crowd of individuals and younger generations as well as survivors, supporters and advocates," Miller said.