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A letter to our friends that were part of our first annual Comedy Night

Updated: 1 day ago

Dear Friends,


The Joan Rotondi Hope & Empowerment Foundation wants to take a moment to thank all of you who joined us for our First Annual Comedy Night featuring Mike Marino. Your support, your energy, and your continued friendship with our family made it a night to remember.

 

We’re happy to share that the evening was a full success — we had a packed house, and the atmosphere was amazing. Mike had everyone laughing, and we’re incredibly grateful that he came all the way from New Jersey to Sarnia to be with us. It means a lot that he carved out time to support JRHEF, especially with his busy schedule and fresh off a performance at Carnegie Hall in December. If you’d like to keep up with Mike, be sure to follow him on his website and podcast at Mike Marino Live, and on Instagram @mikemarino.  

 

Don’t forget — his new movie “Silent Partners” comes out in theatres on May 13, 2025.

 

Thank You to Our Generous Sponsors

 

 

We’re so grateful for your support — it helped us make this night possible.

 

A Big Win and Big Thanks

 

Since this was our first comedy night, we didn’t go in with a fundraising goal — but thanks to you, we raised an incredible $20,075. That’s an amazing start, and it gives us something to build on for next year.

 

We also want to recognize a few people who helped make this event a success:

 

  • Silvana Cservik, President of the Dante Club, and her team — thank you for all your support

  • Brian Keelan, our MC for the night — you kept everything running smoothly and made everyone feel at home

  • And all of the volunteers who helped set up, check people in, and kept everything organized — we appreciate you more than you know

 

We were also touched that so many people asked about getting involved. If you’re interested in volunteering or helping out in any way at future events, just visit jrhef.org and fill out the volunteer form. We’d love to have you join us.

 

A Special Shoutout

 

We’d like to congratulate Leslie Gordon, who won our door prize: a beautiful, one-of-a-kind blanket handcrafted by Cathy from "A Frayed Knot". This special item was generously donated by Kathy Kaloczi in honour of her sister, Julianne Higdon. Thank you, Kathy and Cathy, for adding such a meaningful touch to the evening.

 

What’s Next: Honouring Joan’s Passions

 

As we continue to build The Joan Rotondi Hope & Empowerment Foundation, we’ll be creating events that reflect what Joan loved most in life. If you knew her, you know she loved:

 

  • Listening to live music and going to concerts

  • Seeing live stand-up comedy, especially when we’d visit cities like Montreal, Toronto, New York, or LA

  • Watching professional tennis

  • The arts — and of course, fast cars

 

So that’s what you can expect from JRHEF: fundraising events centered around music, the arts, tennis, motorsports — and plenty of laughter. We’re also excited to announce that we’ll be part of the 2025 Cannonball Run in October, and we’ll be hosting more events tied to F1 Racing too.

 

Stay Connected

 

At JRHEF, our events are inspired by the things Joan loved — comedy, music, tennis, the arts, and more — but our mission goes deeper. We’re committed to supporting programs and initiatives that create hope, opportunity, and empowerment in the lives of others. To learn more about the causes we support and how we’re making a difference, we invite you to visit jrhef.org, join our mailing list, and stay connected with us as we grow.

 

Thanks again to everyone who came out and helped make this night so special. We’re already looking forward to doing it again next year — and we hope to see you there.

 

With much appreciation and gratitude,

​

The Family of The Joan Rotondi Hope & Empowerment Foundation



ABOUT THE JOAN ROTONDI HOPE & EMPOWERMENT FOUNDATION (JRHEF)

The Joan Rotondi Hope & Empowerment Foundation is a non profit organization supporting individuals battling ovarian cancer through initiatives focused on early detection, awareness campaigns, essential resources like financial aid for second opinions and AI-guided clinical trial navigation.



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