Archive for Charity
Difference Makers: The Story Pirates hold second “After School Special”
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Every now and again, we get tips about events that just warm the cockles of our hearts, and this one is a doozy. Story Pirates is a great organization that promotes literacy in young children. It boasts what I think is a wonderfully creative way to get kids involved in stories called the Play/Write Program. To quote the Story Pirates website, Play/Write is ” … a series of creative writing and drama workshops that lead to a musical sketch comedy show acted by adults and comprised entirely of stories written by kids. The award winning show has been described as ‘Monty Python meets Schoolhouse Rock.’” Gang, how cool is that?
Here’s the thing: it just got even cooler, because the Story Pirates group is holding an “After School Special” benefit. It will be hosted by The Daily Show correspondent (and friend of the blog) John Oliver, and there are some pretty amazing prizes up at auction for the Story Pirates’ benefit. Between now and March 20th, you can bid on prizes that range from a Wii console to a tour of the NCIS set (plus a meeting with its star), a cast-autographed script from Community or Parks and Recreation to VIP tickets to The Colbert Report.
Best of all, Jon Stewart is offering a uniquely heartwarming prize: an offer to star in your child’s story. That’s right, Jon Stewart will star in a performance of the story written by the winning bidder’s child, and the winner will receive VIP tickets to the show. Can you even imagine how amazing an experience this would be for the winner’s budding young author?
The benefit takes place on March 21st, and most of the auctions close one day before that. Please, all of you with deep pockets and philanthropic souls, head over to the Story Pirates site and make your bids.
(Huge hat tips to the folks at Story Pirates, Mark Malkoff and DB for letting us know about this event!)
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MERCYCAT (Haiti Earthquake Relief Benefit) to feature ‘Colbert Report’ performers
Posted by: | CommentsHey, everyone! If you’re in New York and looking for a fun and decidedly philanthropic way to spend your Sunday evening, please consider attending MERCYCAT at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre.
MERCYCAT – Haiti Earthquake Relief Benefit
The UCB Theatre is doing its part to help the victims of the devastating earthquake that struck Haiti on January 12th, 2010.
Every dollar raised at this show will go directly to Mercy Corps and will be used to help those in Haiti affected by the destruction.
This show will feature performers from “Saturday Night Live”, “The Colbert Report”, “30 Rock”, and more!
. . .
Click this link for more information about Mercy Corps and/or to purchase tickets
Don’t delay — tickets for the early show are already sold out (although standby tickets remain a possibility).
(h/t Sheila)
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Comedy Central announces ‘Own A Piece of Histor-Me: A Colbert Nation Liquidation’
Posted by: | CommentsWell, well. All of you who were wondering what happened to the set pieces from the old Colbert Report set might be interested in this item: Comedy Central will be auctioning three large pieces of the Colbert memorabilia for some really cool charities.
Viewers Can Log Onto ColbertNation.com After Colbert Makes The Announcement On The Monday, January 18 Show For A Chance To Bid On The ‘C’ Desk, The Interview Table And The Portrait Of Stephen(s) With Proceeds To Benefit Three Different Charities
NEW YORK, Jan. 11 /PRNewswire/ — On Monday, January 4, “The Colbert Report” revealed a brand new set (designed by Jack Morton PDG) since its debut in October 2005, which accompanied a new show open (designed by Mr. Wonderful). With the new set in place, “The Colbert Report” will auction off three famous pieces from the former set to benefit three charities chosen by the host and calling it “Own A Piece of Histor-Me: A Colbert Nation Liquidation.”
I hope these auctions get pushed sky high (by legitimate bidders) so that the James W. Colbert Endowment, US Speedskating and the Yellow Ribbon Fund can refill their coffers. Good luck, bidders!
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Stephen Colbert supports Race for the Cure
Posted by: | CommentsGreetings, everyone. It’s been pretty quiet in the Colbert universe while Stephen and his crew have — we hope! — relaxed and rechaged their batteries.
But it hasn’t all been resting on laurels out there: in what’s become an annual tradition, Stephen showed up to participate in today’s Susan G. Koman Race for the Cure in New York’s Central Park. From WCBS TV (click here or on the photo):
I love his dedication to these worthy causes, and I’m hoping he managed to win, as predicted. Regardless of his place on the leaderboard, though, I think we can all agree that taking part in this race is an automatic win.
Way to go, Team Colbert!
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“I’d say throw the book at that kid, but he would just read it”
Posted by: | CommentsHey, everyone! Hope you’re all finding ways to survive this break period; it’s been a bit of an adjustment for me, not seeing Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert at eleven each night. One way I’ve been using my extra time is in diving into the weird and wonderful world of books — truth be told, I’ve been gorging on the mounds of novels and non-fiction books that I seem so compulsively moved to buy every time I’m anywhere near a bookstore.
Given that, when I heard that First Book was in the midst of its third annual “What Book Got You Hooked?” campaign, it seemed like the perfect opportunity to re-post info from that great charity. We’ve posted about them before (twice, actually), but it’s really a great organization, and I love the discussions that ensue when we start talking about books here. Here’s Stephen’s pick for “What Book Got You Hooked?”:
STEPHEN COLBERT
Host and Writer, The Colbert Report
Swiss Family Robinson
The first chapter book I remember reading by myself was Swiss Family Robinson. It had it all – a shipwreck, a tropical paradise, a treehouse, pirates, home made bombs, a tiger pit, and the enviable freedom of those three Robinson boys who were seemingly on permanent Summer vacation. Oh! Plus, later they find this girl who they don’t know is a girl because her grandfather has dressed her up as a boy so the pirates won’t know, and the boys treat her like another boy until they find out she’s a girl, and she’s really pretty, and the older brothers fight over her, and they have to hold her hand and stuff to help her over rivers, and that seemed cool to me.
Please do swing by the “What Book Got You Hooked?” page and check out the other celebrity entries. And don’t forget to vote on a state (maybe South Carolina, for Stephen?) to receive 50,000 books for children in need. Banned Books Week is coming up, too — just one more reason to champion reading.
And please chime in the comments to tell us if you’d like to recommend anything you’ve particularly enjoyed, either as a child or more recently. This bookworm is already looking forward to reading your suggestions.
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Stephen Colbert + U.S. Cellular’s Alan Ferber = DonorsChoose.org win
Posted by: | CommentsHa ha! I love this!
As you all know, Stephen Colbert champions a number of wonderful causes and is on the board of the great DonorsChoose.org charity.
Well, U.S. Cellular’s Chief Marketing Officer, Alan Ferber, is a huge Stephen Colbert fan. Some of the enterprising folks over at their Calling All Teachers program learned about this and, more importantly, got Ferber to pledge a million dollars out of U.S. Cellular’s advertising budget to DonorsChoose.org if they could get him an autographed photo of Stephen.
Watch below to see what happened:
Awesome work, ladies, and well done Mr. Ferber! Now that’s the way to fundraise.
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Happy Birthday, Stephen Colbert!
Posted by: | CommentsCelebrate, O members of the Colbert Nation, for our pundit extraordinaire is 45 today. Happy birthday, Sir Stephen!
To commemorate this illustrious event, I’m reposting the birthday message Stephen recorded on behalf of DonorsChoose.org, in which he asks those of us willing and able to do so to give students and educators across the country our support and assistance.
I can’t stress enough what a great charity this is (First Lady Michelle Obama agrees); it’s hard to argue with an organization that seeks to fund projects to better educate our nation’s youth. If you haven’t been to Stephen’s Great Give-Back Birthday page for a few days, he has added a number of new educators’ requests; you might want to take a look to see whether you notice any projects that are particularly near and dear to your heart. While larger contributions usually get more notice, one of the things I love about this organization is that you can help fund specific projects even if you can only afford $5, $10, $15 dollars at a time; it really does make a difference.
We know the Zoners here are a generous-minded bunch, and we certainly know how much you all love Stephen, so, if you think it’s in your budget, please consider adding to the over $4000 already raised in honor of this man’s birthday. (A bonus: we heard that Stephen is reading the messages that people are leaving on projects funded through his Great Give-Back Birthday page.)
Here’s wishing the best for the classrooms in need and hoping Stephen has the happiest and most rewarding of birthdays!
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Paul Rieckhoff talks about vets, Stephen Colbert and the Colbert Bump
Posted by: | CommentsI’m always impressed by Paul Rieckhoff when I see him interviewed; he is such a great spokesman for veterans, and his commitment to improving their situations is clear in everything he does. Since we know that Stephen Colbert has been a steadfast supporter of the troops and their families, as well, it comes as no surprise that they get along as well as they do. Nonetheless, this approving post by Rieckhoff in today’s HuffPo was lovely to read. From the Huffington Post (some internal links omitted):
Colbert Steps Into The War Zone — And Shows the Power of New Media
Newsflash: Stephen Colbert is going to war.
That’s no joke. Comedy’s most serious satirist dropped yet another hint Tuesday night that he’s heading “somewhere in the Persian Gulf” soon to take The Colbert Report to the troops.
. . .
Despite the jokes, however, Colbert deserves serious credit for being the first TV host to take his full operation to the war zone. This modern-day Bob Hope is doing all that he can to focus America’s attention back on Iraq and Afghanistan. He cares about our troops, and is putting his ass in the line of fire to prove it. During our interview, he also allowed me to raise a key point: support for our troops and veterans mean more than slapping a magnetic yellow ribbon on the back of your Chevy/Fiat. And ahead of this much-anticipated “deployment,” he’s asking The Colbert Nation to step up in support of our newest generation of veterans. And his Nation has responded in a huge way.
But how powerful is the “Colbert Bump” that he boasts about so often on the show? Very. Since my interview Tuesday night, IAVA’s new website for the family and friends of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans – www.SupportYourVet.org – has seen a 700% increase in traffic. The Bump has pushed millions of eyeballs, hundreds of donations and an avalanche of Tweets to our cause. Fans of the show are inundating IAVA’s YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and MySpace pages to watch our new television commercial “Signs.” People from as far as Australia are writing to say they heard about us while watching The Colbert Report on Hulu.com. The Colbert Nation is large, engaged and mobilized like Patton’s Army in driving us toward our goal of 100,000 views by Mother’s Day. The Bump is very powerful, and this new media version of Oprah’s Book Club can move a piece of content around the world faster than swine flu.
. . .
Rieckhoff dashed off a few tweets about his trip to The Report, too (“Out for drinks w Colbert Report writers and crew–many of them headed to the middle east. They very cool, and very afraid.”); check them out here. If you can spare a few dollars, consider donating to www.SupportYourVet.org (and don’t forget about the “Support Our Troops” campaign Stephen’s running over at DonorsChoose.org, either!); I’m sure they would appreciate hearing from you.
For those of you who missed his interview this week, I’m embedding it below, or you can re-watch Rieckhoff’s original appearance on The Colbert Report (just after Stephen’s White House Correspondents’ Dinner speech) at this link.
| The Colbert Report | Mon – Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c | |||
| Paul Rieckhoff | ||||
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Thanks for your service, Mr. Rieckhoff. And members of the Colbert Nation, let’s keep showing our support for all the troops!
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