Final Tally on Smile Train Donations

My generous comedian friends backstage at the Saturday night show.

It's been a month since our Smile Train comedy improv benefit shows and I just now sent off the final check package to New York; the happy delay was caused by the fact that donations continued, despite the shows being over. Ultimately, we raised $2,150.44!

It tops the amount raised last year and is enough to fix 8.5 kids! This makes my heart sing like you cannot believe. Smile Train also has a matching program going on right now (thanks to some wealthy benefactor) so there's a chance it will end up being three times that amount, which would be fantastic.

There's just no way this would have happened without the tireless efforts of Steve Loukas, my comedy husband. (In the photo's center, in the wig braids.) He is the driving force behind so many of the important details and I would never want to do this without him. Steve and I were freshman members of the Rodents of Unusual Size (who also donated their funny bones to the shows) and he's now is the brilliant leader of The Denver Wigs. (They brought down the house the other night, btw, you should absolutely check 'em out.)

I'm also especially grateful to Monkey's Uncle, who donated their considerable comedic talents, and Intentionally Left Blank, another fabulous group (and freakishly good looking I might add) who put on a wonderful show. (Again, Steve made all that happen - I just stood around, being charmed by them.)


Also, thanks to Bess Chachas who skillfully handled all the sound and lights for the Saturday night shows. And, of course, to Dave and Bob, co-owners of the Avenue Theater, who generously donated a huge portion of their sales to the cause. Plus, they are just super sweet guys in general.

Finally, big thanks to all the donors who put money towards such a wonderful cause. (Big thanks to Reid Kirkpatrick who donated $300 and even got his employer to donate $100 more - amazing.) I really appreciate all the hard-earned money you gave up but not as much as the kids do. Thanks to ya'll, they'll be smiling forever.