The following report was issued by Petras Barcas at Darien Suburban Life in Darien, IL.

The chance of running into a rock star at the airport is not as slim as say, running into one at the grocery store. But the chance of that musician donating $5,000 to one’s middle-school band during that chance encounter, however, is pretty rare.

That is exactly what happened to half the band of Eisenhower Junior High during their trip to Orlando April 24. The students met Paul O’Neill, co-founder of the Trans-Siberian Orchestra and music producer.

The band of 80 students took two flights down to their music competition. One of the flights was delayed, and that is where 39 kids got to rub elbows with O’Neill, a rock legend who has promoted concerts for Madonna and Sting, as well as produced platinum albums for Aerosmith.

“It was just a fluke meeting — we were delayed, he was delayed — and this is just what he does to help bands,” said Ray Conniff, co-vice president of the band boosters. “The ticket agent said he stops bands all the time because he travels from New York to Orlando a lot.”

Conniff told the whole incredible story, starting with how O’Neill came up to the group of kids, all wearing their red “Got music?” band T-shirts. He then inquired who was the band director, Conniff said.

“The next thing I know, he’s telling me how a lot of music programs are being cut, how important music is, and how he doesn’t want our program to be cut,” said Conniff. “Then he writes me a check for $5,000. I was stunned. That’s a very sizable donation.”

Seventh-grader Jazmyn Jimenez recalled O’Neill’s appearance as being all rock star.

“He had a long black leather trench coat on, with black sunglasses and long black hair,” she said. “We didn’t really know who he was, and even after he told us, I still didn’t know.”

The check read: “Use this for pizza and McDonald’s, as junk food is an important part of the creative process.” Clearly, O’Neill has a good sense of humor.

As if the donation was not enough, O’Neill started pulling jackets, shirts, and guitar picks out of his suitcase and dispersing them to the crowd of kids, who was now gathering around for autographs.

Then he pulled out a wad of bills. One hundred dollar bills.

“I was behind him. He asked us how many people were in the band,” said Jose Moreno, a sixth-grader that plays saxophone and piano. “I heard people gasp as he pulled out a wad of $100s.”

Every student got a $100 bill. O’Neill asked that $20 out of each $100 be “paid forward” to other band mates or students in need.

“He was really nice. He just kept giving us stuff,” said Jose, who got an additional $100 to expand his CD collection. “I said I played keyboard, and he recommended some tracks and gave me $100 to buy them. I haven’t had a chance yet, but I will.”

The donation may be used for uniforms or instruments — no one is really sure yet. They just know they had a great time chatting with O’Neill.

“It was just another highlight added to our trip,” said Jazmyn. “It was really fun.”

(Thanks wesnlisa)