by Adélie Salagnac
Mark Twain said, “Humor is the great thing, the saving thing.” To have a good laugh, and contribute to a good cause, Spells Writing Lab may have found the solution.
Non-profit organization founded in Spring 2009, Spells Writing Lab provides writing programs focused on developing the creative writing abilities of children from 6 to 18 years old. Composed of a vast majority of writers and educators, Spells’ volunteers dedicate themselves to empowering Philadelphia’s youth, regardless of background, socioeconomic status, or school achievements.
“One of the problems in Philadelphia right now is that our school district is very underfunded, and the schools don’t have money,” says President Steven Wittenberg. That’s when Spells Writing Lab comes into play and goes to the students. “Our programs can last weeks and weeks, our programs can be a couple of hours long, we have a thousand different models out there, to do things in different ways.”
“As a non-profit,” explains Wittenberg, “our board was looking at the challenge of raising some money to support us, but at the same time to raise awareness about what we do.”
That is how Hilarity for Charity was born. Spells Writing Lab is hosting its first ever Hilarity for Charity night, a fundraiser event. Charity has never been so whimsical! Your ticket includes access to the Private Happy Hour and Joke-Telling session, featuring the kids’ work, as well as heavy appetizers and drinks – who could possibly say no to good food and good laugh? Spells is also organizing a raffle, and finally, you’ll get to attend Comedy Central’s Standup Showdown 2010 winner’s show, Tammy Pescatelli.
American stand-up comedian featured on NBC’s Last Comic Standing and the Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Tammy Pescatelli is currently on tour to promote her most recent DVD, Finding the Funny. She’s making a stop in Philly this month and Hilarity for Charity is giving you the opportunity to attend her first show in town.
“We hope people really like it, and if so, we’ll do it again,” says Wittenberg. “As we grow, as people learn about us and as we raise more money, we’ll do even bigger events.” Keep an eye out for Spells’ new events. Wittenberg confessed, “[they] definitely have a lot of ideas on paper”, and we can tell you that they’ll be just as fun as Hilarity for Charity.
Hilarity for Charity will be held at 6:00PM on December 9th at Helium Comedy Club. For more information, visit http://phillyspells.org/hilarityforcharity/.
