November 1, 2006 

Penn Performing Arts Groups Raise Money for Philadelphia Food Bank

Philadelphia, PA - The four comedy groups of the University of Pennsylvania, Mask and Wig, Without a Net, Bloomers and Simply Chaos, met with representatives at Philabundance today to donate over $1000 and approximately 200 cans of food to the Delaware Valley’s Food Bank and Distribution program. The donations were the proceeds from a comedy show on Penn’s campus held earlier this month called Charitable Laughter. The benefit is held annually and is sponsored by the four comedy groups and the University’s Performing Arts Council (PAC).

Charitable Laughter was held on Saturday, October 7 in the Iron Gate Theatre where performers from all groups played to a nearly sold out crowd. Philabundance Executive Director Bill Clark was at the event to show his gratitude and inform students about Philabundance’s mission to provide for people in need by rescuing surplus food in the area. Martha Buccino of Philabundance mentioned that “we are very appreciative of all the work from the Penn students for not only setting up a food drive but also for raising funds for us. The money and food will be put to good use throughout the community.” The event was a collaborative effort of Katie Liberman of Bloomers, Austin Peña of Without a Net, Colin Beck of Simply Chaos, James Wong of the Mask and Wig Club and performers of all groups. During the presentation, representatives from the groups took a tour of Philabundance facilities and saw the success from efforts of local elementary and high school volunteers along with the full time staff.

Philabundance works to end hunger and malnutrition in the Delaware Valley by rescuing surplus food and distributing it to local organizations serving people in need. For information about volunteering, contact Jan Barnett (215-739-7394, ext. 118).

The Performing Arts Council at the University of Pennsylvania has 40 performance groups with over 60 full length productions each year. PAC and its advisory office, Student Performing Arts (SPA), offer training workshops and master classes throughout the year, alumni programs, career training, a summer theatre internship scholarship, as well as resources on the performing arts in Philadelphia. For more information, please contact Ty Furman (215-275-0851).