Our Charity Recipients
Each of these 3 charities has touched someone in the Detroit improv community in some shape or form.
We truly would not be the same without them.
Thank you in advance for your contribution to this cause that means so much to the Detroit Improv community.
More information about the charities:
Gilda's Club namesake, Gilda Radner, was one of the original cast members of “Saturday Night Live.” Throughout her time on the show, she created a number of enduring characters, including Roseanne Roseannadanna, Emily Litella and Lisa Loopner. Laughter and love were central themes of Gilda’s career and life, including in her marriage to actor and comedian Gene Wilder. Gilda was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 1985. She said that having cancer gave her membership in an elite club she’d rather not belong to. She passed away in 1989,but her legacy lived on when her husband and friends established Gilda’s Club and the first red door opened in New York City. Gilda's Club Metro Detroit programs are 100% free! Whether you or someone you love has been diagnosed with cancer or have recently lost someone to cancer, there is a place for you at Gilda's Club.
Learn more at www.gildasclubdetroit.org.
The Diana George Jacokes Endowed Fund has been established by Paul Jacokes and the Jacokes children to honor and memorialize Diana. Its purpose is to support the education of young women at Mercy High School. Diana would be pleased to know that the scholarship established in her name is helping a student who reflects the values that she cherished in her fellow students while at Mercy High School: intelligence, kindness, good humor and generosity of spirit.
Learn more at www.mhsmi.org/giving/endowmentgiving.
Tim Hayden used his gift for laughter as a performer for a long while, but it wasn’t until he became a teacher of theater at Waterford Kettering High School that he truly found his happiest place of all. Tim only taught at Kettering for a few years before losing a battle with cancer that he fought with Herculean effort. However, in those few short years, he became an integral part of the Kettering family, beloved by staff and students alike. When Tim passed away in 2008, his family worked with Kettering to establish the Tim Hayden Memorial Scholarship Fund. Each year the scholarship is awarded to a graduating Kettering senior who is planning to pursue the Dramatic Arts, and who has been a positive role model onstage and in the classroom. In addition, a portion of Snow Day proceeds are donated to the fund each year, which not only helps a budding performer, but helps to keep Tim’s spirit and laughter alive forever.
Excerpt from WKHS CONNECTION issue on May 22, 2023.