REGIONAL – The annual Comedy Night fundraiser to help the cancer victim beneficiaries of Solace for Stephanie could use a few more gift cards for the raffle baskets.
“While ticket sales are happening, we would like to give people the opportunity to sponsor some items!” wrote MaryAnn Levasseur, the charity’s leader, in an email to Solace’s legion of angels recently.
Items include gift cards to local eateries and stores, mostly $25 each. Suggestions include Dick’s Sports, Dunkin’ Donuts, Lowe’s, Home Depot, Amazon, TJ Maxx, Starbucks, Subway and Panera.
For the last 14 years, Solace for Stephanie has built a broad base of supporters who come together once a year to raise money and laugh at the jokes of some of the region’s best comedians.
The annual Comedy Night, which is usually sold out, will be held on Saturday, Nov. 23, at the Topsfield Fairground. The comedians will be headed by Paul Gilligan, who has been making crowds laugh to help with their cancer for years. He will be joined by Ken Rogerson and Dave Decker.
Named for Stephanie Jenkins, a popular Rowley hairdresser, who died of cancer in 2010, the all-volunteer Solace each year assists 10 or 12 cancer victims and their families with gift cards for food and transportation, prescriptions, massages and physical therapy. It has now helped 115 victims.
Solace also underwrites college scholarships for family members of cancer victims. And because Jenkins was one of the original founders of the Eiras park playground, the group helped build the park behind the police and fire stations that has now been updated by the town.
“Stephanie was a wonderful, caring person who gave unconditionally. She loved the community, sports and her family and friends. When Stephanie passed away of kidney cancer, I felt our community needed to remember her. Rowley was where she grew up, attended school, married, raised her family, operated a business, and formed lasting friendships. By giving back to the community, she was part of making Rowley a better place to live,” Levasseur wrote on the group’s website.
“We have a great following,” said Levasseur, who works closely with Stephanie’s husband, Ron, her brother, Dominic, and her sons, Steven, Dan and Kyle Jenkins to manage the non-profit organization.
Solace started in Rowley, but quickly grew to surrounding North Shore communities as far north as southern New Hampshire. “We don’t have a boundary because cancer doesn’t,” Levasseur said.
“If you sponsor an item, we will add your name to the basket!” Levasseur wrote.
To donate the amount for the gift card, make the donation at at www.solaceforstephanie.org. Look for the MAKE A DONATION button at the top NOT the comedy ticket button. And email us that you made the donation for the item you selected.
