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A couple of years ago, Talinda Bennington took her Boston Terrier, Bruiser, to visit patients at Cardon Children’s Medical Center as part of the pet therapy program. Bruiser is anything but a bruiser. He’s mellow and loves kids, so much so that he has even fallen asleep while visiting a patient. Dog lovers know the calming effect of a warm, fuzzy canine.
Sure, he's sold millions of records and headlined any number of the most prestigious music venues in the world. But Chester Bennington of Linkin Park seems pretty stoked to be the featured entertainment at the second annual Stars of the Season: A Night in Rio at Montelucia Resort & Spa in Scottsdale. That's because all proceeds benefit a cause both near and dear to the tattooed rocker's heart - Cardon Children's Medical Center in Mesa, Banner Health's only pediatric medical facility.
Bennington's wife Talinda, currently expecting twins, has volunteered at Cardon Children's since it opened.
So has Bruiser, the family's Boston Terrier.
And Bennington himself has dropped in on his share of patients, signing autographs, posing for pictures and otherwise brightening the day for the patient and singer alike.
"They're in here struggling through some pretty long days and some pretty intense treatments," Bennington says, "so it's kind of cool to see their faces light up when I walk in the room."
Talinda got involved at Cardon Children's first.
"Our next-door neighbor is a nurse here," she says. "And before the hospital was completely built, she knocked on my door and said 'Banner is building this new children's hospital. Would you like to be part of it by volunteering as part of fund-raising? With your husband's name, we believe you could bring a lot to the hospital.' I came down here and fell in love with it. I walked the hospital and saw what it could be."
And the timing was perfect.
As Bennington says, "Talinda had really been itching to do something for the community and she wanted to get our dogs, or at least Bruiser, involved in some type of pet program where he could provide some type of companionship or therapy for people."
Bruiser, as it turns out, likes the work.
"We can volunteer at any Banner hospital," Talinda says. "But actually, my dog likes to be with the kids. When we go to the adult side, he doesn't want to go into the rooms and interact with patients. When we come here, he'll just lie with the child for, like, an hour if they let him."
Bruiser's put more time in at the hospital than Bennington.
But to be fair, he does less touring.
"I've come down and met some of the children that have had extended stays here or they may have gotten here the night before with a broken arm or something," Bennington says. "I come down and just kind of say 'Hi.' Some of the older kids, older teen or even into the high school years, they get pretty excited. I bring in CDs and pictures to sign and just talk. It's nice to see them get distracted for a little bit."
Some kids get more than distracted.
As Dr. David Curran, chair of the medical center's Department of Pediatrics, recalls with a laugh, "These kids get in their skinny jeans. They get their hair all fixed up. It's a big deal."
The Benningtons, who live in Gilbert, helped the hospital secure the entertainment at the first Stars of the Season, Art Alexakis of Everclear. They also donated two LP packages with tickets to a Linkin Park show, which brought in $7,000 each at last year's auction after Bennington, who couldn't be there because he was rocking Australia that day, agreed to get on the phone for a chat with winner.
"I leaned over to Talinda," Curran recalls, "and I said, 'Would he talk to the winner?' That got us an extra 2 grand per package."
This year, Bennington is playing. But the other guys from Linkin Park won't be there. He's performing with his other project, Dead by Sunrise.
"We'll be playing stripped-down, more acoustic," he says. "It's not gonna be like a Linkin Park show, but I just had surgery on my shoulder a month ago, so it's probably better that I'll be doing a calmer version of my music."
The event, held Saturday, Nov. 12, is sponsored by the Banner Health Foundation. It has a goal of raising $250,000 in support of the Pediatric Rehabilitation Center at Cardon Children's. Last year's event raised $170,000 for the medical center's Integrative Pediatric Pain Management Program.
Photos by David Wallace/The Arizona Republic
Chester Bennington, of Linkin Park, and his Boston Terrier, "Bruiser," meet with Noah Grant, 11, (left), of Mesa, and Langley Danielson, (right) 4, of Gilbert, both occupational therapy patients at Cardon Children's Medical Center in Mesa, Wednesday, Nov. 2, 2011.
Tina Curran, the co-chair, with Monica Monson, of this year's event, says, "What's so exciting is that the Pediatric Rehabilitation Center is a center that combines the best physicians and best therapists. A patient can come in and see the physician and the therapist, from birth all the way to 18. It's in-patient. It's out-patient. It takes into account the children who need therapy on a weekly basis as well as the children who, at different ages in their life, would need therapy."
In addition to Bennington's performance, a Night in Rio will feature a silent auction, a live auction and a raffle, with Jon Kelley of Extra! as the emcee.
"Chester and Talinda have been tremendous supporters," says Tina Curran. "Last year, it was through Chester and Talinda that we were able to secure Art for our entertainment. And this year, we were so honored, truly, that Chester has said yes, he will play. We know how huge that is."
And Bennington is glad to do it.
"We have a lot of charities we work with," he says. "But after coming and seeing the kids and how happy they are to see Bruiser, and all the wonderful people we've met and become friends with at the hospital, it really has become something that we're passionate about. It's a special thing when you see a child who's sick or injured. Their lives have been so short and they're so innocent. There's so much hope. They just want to live and be healthy. And so, when we raise money this year to bring in the therapies we're looking for and helping out the families, that's the rewarding part."
