ROWLEY – Solace for Stephanie last week auctioned off a basketball signed by every member of the World Champion Boston Celtics, earning the charity that cares for cancer patients an additional $5,250.
In total, the non-profit Solace’s 14th annual Comedy Night raised more than $30,000, its largest fundraising event ever, said board member MaryAnn “Mo” Levasseur.
Initially, the Celtics’ autographed ball was the final item to be bid on at the event in November, but when the bidding seemed to stall at $1,500, the board asked the sold-out crowd of 325 people at the Topsfield Fair for permission to withdraw the ball and bid it separately after the event.
The Solace board was expecting the ball to produce a bid of more than $5,000, as had an autographed Celtics’ ball at an Ipswich fundraising event recently. The crowd readily agreed.
Thanks to Duane Johnston, a retired Celtics official, and a friend, Brian Nelson, the group had received a private bid of $5,250 from an anonymous donor. Last week during a day-long bidding session on line, that bid remained the winner.
All of the $30,000 raised by the fundraising effort will go to help cancer patients who are struggling to pay their bills.
Since 2010, Solace for Stephanie has helped more than 117 cancer victims and given out 20 college scholarships to students. Solace for Stephanie was created in honor of Stephanie Jenkins, a popular Rowley hairdresser who died of cancer. The charity is administered by her family and friends.
The charity is helping two women with advanced cancer and a six-year-old girl whose bone marrow transplant from her twin brother failed. Solace provided assistance through a donation.
In a closing letter last year to all Solace’s amazing “angels” who took part in Comedy Night, Levasseur wrote: “Whether it was hands on behind the scenes, to purchasing a ticket, to sending a donation, to sponsoring a gift card, to volunteering that night. We could go on and on. YOU made the difference.” ♦
