Submission #21732 by B'nai Jeshurun Men's Club - Pepper Pike, OH (325)

I have read the 2021 Torch Awards Program Guidelines.
Club Name
B'nai Jeshurun Men's Club - Pepper Pike, OH (325)
Comedy-Benefit Event
Club Representative
Person completing form
Jerry
Brodsky
Club President at time of convention if known at this time
Jerry
Brodsky
Club President Now
Jerry
Brodsky
Best Overall Programming

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We created a virtual comedy night, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Food Bank on February 13th, 2021. The fundraising event was part of our synagogue’s Chesed Week. To date we have raised in excess of $11,000 through $18 registration fees and direct donations by our guests before, during and after the event. These funds have been allocated to more than 10 food banks located in our Cleveland community and elsewhere around the country. Nine different entertainers donated their time, performing stand-up and improv comedy during the course of the 90-minute show. The renowned comedian and actor Kevin Pollak provided a recorded video introduction to the evening via Cameo and donated his fee to the Cleveland Kosher Food Pantry. The live event supported the important function of providing food to the needy during these challenging times and our comedians brought smiles to the faces of 400+ screens accommodating an audience of 700+ people.
We hired a video production specialist (Nate Horowitz, Q Audio Visual, Cleveland, Ohio) to run our show through the Zoom video conferencing platform. He ran in studio prerecorded videos we created, during the show at designated times. He also followed our Call Sheet (attached) which provided the order of show so that he knew when to spotlight and unmute performers in accordance with our schedule. Our marketing plan worked extremely well, which allowed us to succeed in entertaining a large audience as well as gather a significant amount of financial support for food banks.
Attachments
links_to_comedy_event_production_videos.pdf
cue_call_sheet.docx
program_document_-_call_sheet.docx
planning.pdf
marketing.pdf
marketing_2.pdf
photos.pdf
Self Assessment
The virtual comedy night was a huge success. In terms of funds raised, quality of the entertainment, and subsequent accolades from attendee’s, the results exceeded all expectations. The event raised over $11,000 for food banks which are performing the critical task of providing food to the hungry during the pandemic. It also brought together over 700 individuals on 400 Zoom screens across the U.S. and Canada, providing great entertainment on a cold winter night during the pandemic. Participants included diversity in terms of age, geography and entertainment interest. Members of the clergy participated as well as participants from the Cleveland Jewish Community at large. Jewish and non-Jewish participants also included people from around the country. As such, the Men’s Club interacted with our local community, ultimately supporting efforts to help feed needy in many communities around the country.

The planning committee consisted of seven men who were actively engaged, including two who had not been heavily involved with the club in the recent past and jointly a club in a synagogue in another city.
This event clearly supported the FJMC mission. It involved Tikun Olam, raising needed funds for charity in the form of food banks, and involved joint programming with another Club as Tiffereth Israel (Columbus) co-sponsored as well as Shiray Tikvah (Cleveland) Men’s Club that supported the effort with a generous donation and additional marketing opportunity. In addition, the event planning and implementation provided training for future leaders and enabled the club to serve as a leader among the Cleveland Jewish community supporting food banks.

A lot of work was involved with this project. However, we have established a format which can be used for virtual entertainment in pandemic and normal times. Given that we could not have a live comedy night during the pandemic, the use of Zoom and our concept of “designated laughers” were quite innovative. We look forward to repeating and enhancing the event post-pandemic.
Included in the attached documents is contact information for all the men involved in the planning and implementation of the event. They each stand ready to help any other Club interested in putting something like this together for themselves.

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Original Program
Previous Submission
Yes