Wednesday, August 27, 2008

We were busy being movie stars

Okay, okay. So we weren't here yesterday morning. Would it help if I told you that Sydney and I were too busy being movie stars? It all happened very quickly actually. I have been helping out with a project called Stand Up for Life. This was not my brainchild but just one of many great ideas that thankfully come in my direction. The idea is simple. Go out and have a blast at a comedy club. That's it. By doing this simple task, neuroblastoma research gets funded. Pretty neat, huh.

David Podeszwa and Honor Shearer came up with the idea. David is father of Alex who has stage IV neuroblastoma. As you may recall he also a pretty good friend. Honor is one of the Podeszwa's friends and also a comedian. She has been called the "Soccer Mom" of comedy. Regardless, they came up with this idea to have an event at the Improv in Addison (North Dallas), Texas. The Improv graciously agreed to give us the venue at a very nominal cost and the comedians, 4 in all, have all agreed to donate their time. This means that pretty much all of the proceeds will go into the CNCF's hands. Now, to make this make sense we had to make it work for the Improv too. We could not steal a profitable Friday or Saturday night. We had to make it work for them on one of their nights that were far less busy. It is for this reason that we decided to do it on a Wednesday evening, September 24th in fact. The really cool thing about this is, if we are able to create some success, we should be able to take this model around the country. Stand Up for Life could be in every body's hometown. You see, anything can make a difference. It just takes an idea an a decision to carry it through.

So, anyway, I digress. What does this have to do with Sydney and I being movie stars? Everything, really. To promote the show Honor contacted our local CBS affiliate and told them what we were doing. (Yes, she has some pull.) They were excited about the whole idea and were interested in telling the story of how it all began. The inspiration for Stand Up for Life came, in a way from Lunch for Life and, well, Lunch for Life came from inspiration from Sydney and all of the other kids battling the disease. They decided to do a story on Lunch for Life. The segment is called something like "Texans making a difference." It will air early on CBS's This Morning in the Dallas/Fort Worth Market on Friday and then again on their weekend show. Now, I really don't care for the personal recognition, but, I can tell you that this was great for neuroblastoma. They gave me some wonderful opportunities to talk about neuroblastoma and the importance of research. We shot the segment and Sydney's school and I know that they got some great footage. It was an opportunity to get out there to share the story and hopefully touch a few more hearts that are capable of creating some significant change. I am hopeful that it will also help promote the show, "Stand Up for Life" in Addison.

And, yes, Sydney feels like a movie star.

There you have it. I was playing hooky. I admit it.

But hey, I had a good reason. I had some serious purpose going on.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Will you put a copy of the event on the web site for all to see?