NO LAUGHING MATTER 2022
PERFORMER OPHIRA EISENBERG
THE FOURTH ANNUAL “NO LAUGHING MATTER” FUNDRAISER RAISES MORE THAN $600,000 FOR PEDIATRIC BRAIN TUMOR RESEARCH AT WEILL CORNELL MEDICINE
An all-star comedy line-up donated time and talent to the laugh-out-loud fundraiser on October 14, helping raise research funding for rare and inoperable brain tumors at Weill Cornell Medicine.
The room was filled with love, laughter, hope, and inspiration on Friday, October 14 at the New York Athletic Club during the annual “No Laughing Matter” comedy night fundraiser to benefit the Children’s Brain Tumor Project (CBTP) at Weill Cornell Medicine. In four years, the event has raised close to $2.5M to benefit the groundbreaking research of Dr. Mark Souweidane and Dr. Jeffrey Greenfield, co-founders of the CBTP.
“We are so grateful to the Children’s Brain Tumor Project Foundation, our dinner chair, the performers, the honorees, the sponsors and the volunteer staff who made this event such a tremendous success. We rely on the success of event not only to maintain the research that is already underway, but to grow our efforts so we can discover cures and bring them to clinic even faster,” said Dr. Jeffrey Greenfield.
The event included an emotional donation appeal, raising much-needed research funding to support the critical work at the lab. There were also several children and families in attendance who have been personally impacted by a pediatric brain tumor diagnosis, like eight-year-old Enzo Peloqiun, who bravely appeared on stage with comedic host Jordan Klepper (and his stuffed dinosaur for support).
In addition to side-splitting comedy, the evening included two award presentations. The “Liz Laugh Love” award was presented to Veronica Marsano for her commitment to supporting the launch of the first-ever precision medicine program of its kind. Veronica and her family proudly support this research in memory of her son, Patrick, who passed away from an aggressive glioma called gliomatosis cerebri.
The recipient of the “Good Humor” award was a previous patient of Dr. Mark Souweidane, Anthony Greco. After several years post-treatment, Anthony is now a stand-up performer in New York City who often finds clever ways to incorporate his experience battling a brain tumor into his material. The audience agreed that not only was his performance at No Laughing Matter hilarious, it was extremely meaningful.
The comedy night fundraiser has become the largest annual event of the Children’s Brain Tumor Project, and we look forward to hosting another fantastic lineup in 2023. Save the date for Thursday, October 12th!!
IF YOU WERE UNABLE TO ATTEND, PLEASE CONSIDER MAKING A DONATION.
SOME PHOTOS FROM THE 2022 FUNDRAISER generously donated by Lois Silva Zini and Mary Zappulla
