For a School\'s Benefit Concert, the \'Universe Came Together\'

David Gonzalez/The New York Times

Nilsa Astacio walked quickly through the soaring atrium at the Frank Sinatra School of the Arts as she headed to the principal's office.  Her thoughts matched her steps: nonstop.

“This is just wild,” she muttered. “Wild!”

This was not one of those dreams where you found yourself back in chemistry class about to take a test unprepared and undressed. But there was a surreal touch to the whole affair. Eight years after Ms. Astacio graduated from this high school, she was back in Astoria â€" planning a Dec. 7th concert that for the first time will unite alumni and current students for a one-night-only benefit for victims of Hurricane Sandy.

To think, the whole th ing started with a simple impulse: Hey, let's put on a show.

“I didn't even think; I just acted,” Ms. Astacio said. “I want people to see that you don't have to be famous, have a big name or be a millionaire to help other people.”

She doesn't have that lucky trio of traits â€" yet. She works the local club circuit as a rock 'n' roll singer,  something she set her heart on after graduating from Frank Sinatra in 2004. She lives at home with her mother in College Point, which is where she was in the emotionally numbing days after the storm.

Her house was fine. Others were not so lucky. She was restless.

“I was sitting in the dining room with my mom, sister and a friend,” she recalled. “And I said to them that I'd love to do a benefit concert.”

Over in Corona, Raquel Charter was thinking the same thing. She had been Ms. Astacio's Spanish teacher at the school, and had stayed in touch with her and other alumni. She had just returned to her home with her husband, who had surveyed the storm's damage around various neighborhoods served by the nonprofit group where he works.

“I was really depressed,” Ms. Charter said. “After visiting the different sites, the last thing I wanted to do was sit at home and look at the media. I wanted to do something.”

Ms. Astacio acted first â€" or so she thought â€" when she went to her Facebook page to suggest a benefit concert to her friends. There was already a message waiting for her from her former teacher.

“She was saying I had to bring the alumni together,” Ms. Astacio recalled. “This was like five minutes after I thought of the idea! The universe came together.”

From those initial suggestions, hundreds of people rallied to the cause â€" sort of like a cross between “Babes in Arms” and “The Blues Brothers.” Alumni started sending in samples of their music or videos of their dancing or acting. Lists were drawn for donations, volunteers and other details.  Current students â€" who in the past have done clothing and food drives â€" were enlisted, too, not that they needed much encouragement.

This kind of involvement is not unusual for this school, where arts and academics have been equally valued since it opened in 2001 in Long Island City (and later moved to its gleaming new building near the Kaufman Astoria Studios in 2009). Community service was stressed by its founder, Anthony Dominick Benedetto, a local boy who did O.K. as a crooner.

His show-business name adorns the school's pitch-perfect concert hall: Tony Bennett.

“This school gave us so much,” said Costas Tsourakis, a vocalist who is president of the alumni association.  “We wanted to give back to the community.”

After only a few weeks of planning, 12 alumni performers have been selected for the benefit. Student musicians will join an alumni chorus, while film students alr eady taped a promotional spot featuring Ms. Astacio and Ms. Tsourakis bantering about the benefit.

With a week to go, Ms. Astacio is still a bit amazed by it all: her impulse to help, the response from the alumni and students, the school's eagerness, even her own ability to actually be organized. She now says she'd like to do more. Her family says she's found her calling, to mix the arts with aid.

And her friends?

“They think I'm nuts, but they admire me for it,” she said. “I've taken on this entire show and put it on my shoulders. I kind of think I'm a little nuts. But the outcome has outweighed the craziness â€" so far.”