Description
Tiny Tim’s Holiday Jam Brings Holiday Orphans Together To Raise Funds For Cerebral Palsy.Twins Amber and Haley were diagnosed with developmental disabilities when they were born. With the help of special education in addition to speech and physical therapies at United Cerebral Palsy of New York City, the children are now happy and active nine year olds.
Every year, generous United Cerebral Palsy of New York City volunteers and donors make the holidays brighter for people with disabilities and their families. The annual Santa Project raises money for holiday gift cards and equipment for program participants. Last year, volunteers, fundraisers and contributors helped the UCP of NYC Santa Project deliver every child’s family in their Children’s Programs a gift certificate, bringing a little extra cheer to those in need.
Eon Coffee, Eec! Productions, The Community Presbyterian Church and United Cerebral Palsy of New York City of NYC are serving up two evenings of holiday cheer to inspire, revive and delight holiday ‘orphans’, and to raise funds for children and adults with cerebral palsy, and their families!
Tiny Tim’s Holiday Jam is a Holiday Entertainment Treat that provides a space for people who don’t have traditional families to celebrate the holiday with, while raising money for children living with disabilities. Featuring NYC based Entertainer– Mykel who grew up in Hayward, California.
Reflecting on last year’s Tiny Tim’s Holiday Jam, Mykel said “I can’t be more proud of team Eec! and all the volunteers who showed up without a blink of an eyelash to help. We had a full house of musicians and people who came because they wanted to and knew that there was a reason to give beyond their own families. Raising money for children with disabilities gave everyone something to think about, and in that, we became more educated on how lucky our bodies are, not limiting us, to be fully self expressed in the world. Try binding your hands with tape and pick a pencil up…not easy.”
Elves for UCP of NYC’s Santa Project approach the goal of giving gift cards to families in a variety of creative ways. Some people throw fundraising parties and events, others do gift card ‘’drives” with friends, family and coworkers, some simply write a check so UCP of NYC can purchase gift cards for those in need. Their goal is to provide EVERY child and family in their Children’s Programs with at least one gift card and to help participants in the Adult Programs with specialized equipment needs. The more they raise, the more they can do! In the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, meeting that goal this year may be a little harder than usual.
Mykel, whose family still lives in Hayward, decided last year to make the annual holiday trek ‘home’ a ‘cause’ in addition to a family visit. He opened his heart to people in the area who may not have families to visit, or who didn’t have the resources or ability to travel to make their own visits, gathered together a handful of other performers, and hosted a party in another local coffee house, where he gathered donations for the UCP of NYC. His friends and a few strangers, who soon became new friends, shared music, food, made their own holiday cheer, and raised $300 toward the UCP NYC cause.
The event was small, but a big success in the hearts of all that drew together.
Thus the seed was sown to create an annual event, aiming for a larger group of new friends, and a larger donation to the cause. And so Tiny Tim’s Holiday Jam will return to California, to two different venues, with a goal of raising $3,000.
This year, Tiny Tim’s Holiday Jam will feature Mykel, a singer, musician, and ‘flagger’, who also has his own solo-performance piece about survival called ‘Mykel’s Kashmir Nirvana-Unplugged’, and who recently ‘survived’ his own ordeals with hurricane Sandy. He will be joined by David Lawson, who became involved in Tiny Tim's Holiday Jam/UCP of NYC initially as a friend of a friend.
Marcie Gradwohl, a high school friend of Mykel, asked David if he could organize a musical program to augment the fundraiser in 2011. Their local community of musicians is a tightly-knit group of friends who not only value charitable causes, but also are experienced in providing service to persons with special needs. David’s earliest professional experience in education was working one-on-one with a student affected by cerebral palsy. Although he transitioned into regular education due to his academic training, his musical partner Steve Glover continues to work one-on-one with special needs students. David shares a common philosophy that, among other things, music is the affirmation of life. As such, David says “when the opportunity arises to use music for service, we must take advantage of the chance to up build those in need.”
Maria Magallon, who attended Tiny Tim's Holiday Jam last year said she was “blown away by the performance. The quality of musicians along with the amazing vocals of Mykel transformed the cafe into a warm place of holiday cheer. I look forward to attending it again this year and have invited friends to enjoy the show, as well as contribute to the wonderful work at UCP of NYC.”
The event will include a host of raffle/auction items plus an hour of live holiday style entertainment that will feature a little stand up and story telling from Mykel (last year held a reading from ‘The Grinch’), and special musical guests Marcie Gradwohl (vocals), David Lawson (guitar/vocals), Steve Glover (drums/vocals) and Mike Leon (bass/vocals). Audience participation is welcomed!
On Friday, December 21, 2012, Tiny Tim’s Holiday Jam will take place at Eon Coffee, at 24970 Hesperian Blvd. (at Turner Ct) in Hayward, California 94545 from 7:00 – 9:00 pm, and on Saturday, December 22, from 7:00 to 10:00 pm at the Community Presbyterian Church at 2800 Georgia Street in Vallejo, California, 94591. Admission is a suggested donation of $15 ($10 with a student ID.) For more information or to make reservations, interested orphans can call (917) 532-7199 for the Eon Coffee event, or for the Community Presbyterian Church event, or they can make reservations by visiting http://www.eec-productions.com
More Info
- Link
- http://www.eec-productions.com
- Call
- (917) 532-7199 (Box Office)
- Contact Form (account required)
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