Cedric The Entertainer & a gazillion other celebrities raise money for autism
I was excited to be asked to take over the GRASSROOTS blog while Dee is away because I spent last night watching GRASSROOTS own Cedric The Entertainer answering phones and raising money for Autism education and family service programs across the country during the “Night of Too Many Stars: An Overbooked Concert for Autism Education” hosted by Jon Stewart. Cedric wasn’t the only big celebrity on hand for the concert. Steve Carell, Stephen Colbert, Tina Fey, Ricky Gervais, Chris Rock, Sarah Silverman, Triumph The Insult Comic Dog, George Clooney, David Letterman, Zach Galifianakis, Bob Odenkirk and many, many others joined in on the fun and the fight against Autism.
Some of my personal highlights of the night were when one generous woman donated $20,000 to have Chris Rock curse out her ex-boyfriend over the phone on national television. Actress Naomi Watts was one of two lucky women to donate $10,000 to have Steve Carell fake an orgasm on stage specifically for them. Of course, Steve Carell and Stephen Colbert’s not-so-topical musical number “The Sully Song”, about the heroic pilot who made an emergency landing in the Hudson River nineteen months ago, was epically hilarious. And I don’t know how many donations comedian/actor Zach Galifianakis was able to take during his time at the pledge drive as he was talking into a banana most of the time.
Just because the benefit concert and pledge drive are over doesn’t mean you can’t still donate to a good cause (and possibly even get some cool stuff out of it). For only a $75 donation, you will receive a White Castle hamburger scented candle. What? The smell of pickles, grease and dead animal don’t entice you? Well, with a $100 donation you’ll receive a 2011 swimsuit calendar featuring Tina Fey’s face superimposed on a host of different, sexy bodies to go along with the aforementioned candle. If interested, here’s the link to the donation page: https://newyorkcenterforautism.org/secure/donation.php
If you’re feeling a bit more generous, eBay celebrity auctions are currently being held on a host of different (autographed) items that will also benefit autism education. A few examples include a copy of The Declaration of Independence signed by Stephen Colbert, a copy of Sarah Palin’s autobiography signed by Tina Fey, a canned ham autographed by David Letterman and a pregnancy test signed by Sarah Silverman, among others. Here is a link to the Comedy Central webpage displaying every item up for auction. http://www.comedycentral.com/shows/night_of_too_many_stars/auction/index.jhtml. Hurry though; the auctions are only open for a few more days!
–Bryce Bauer