Finding the fun in fundraising

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This article was published 23/01/2019 (2740 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Like the Beatles famously sang, we get by with a little help from our friends.

Which is why today I want to help two of my best friends with charitable projects intended to make it a little bit easier for the rest of us to get by.

We’ll start with my buddy Jordan Van Sewell, the renowned Winnipeg sculptor, who has created an awesome piece of art he is auctioning in support of the proposed Bruce Oake Recovery Centre.

Jordan wants to use his art to help raise cash and awareness for Winnipeg’s Oake family, who are locked in a public battle to build a long-term addictions treatment centre that will bear their late son’s name.

When Bruce Oake died of a heroin overdose in 2011 at the age of 25, his family was shattered. But father Scott, a longtime fixture on Hockey Night in Canada broadcasts, his wife, Anne, and their youngest son, Darcy, a world-renowned illusionist, refused to wallow in grief.

They are transforming their despair into a vision of hope — a 50-bed, long-term drug treatment centre they are determined to see rise on a 2.5-acre site now home to a shuttered civic arena.

The proposed $14-million centre cleared a major rezoning hurdle late last year, but still requires city council approval and vetting by two other committees before it can proceed. It is facing vocal opposition from residents who, in a nutshell, don’t want to see that kind of project in their neighbourhood.

The sculpture my buddy Jordan has created features a clay likeness of Darcy Oake — who performed a stunning feat of levitation Monday night on the TV show America’s Got Talent — standing atop a manhole, from which a slimy green monster is trying to escape.

“It’s supposed to be Darcy Oake, the conjuror,” Jordan explained over lunch this week at The Forks, where you can check out the piece he has created in support of the Bruce Oake Foundation at his gallery on the second floor of the market, at the top of the curly stairs.

“The green monster represents addictions and Darcy is trying to contain it. He’s hoping to contain this horrible blight.”

My artist buddy whipped up this piece with the sole intention of providing support to a family who have dedicated themselves to building a facility that can prevent other young men from losing their lives to the scourge of addiction.

“These people are putting their good name forward with the intention of making the world a better place and they have to put up with people who don’t have vision and won’t accept a vision,” he told me.

“I think it’s important. Society creates problems and some offer a solution, while other people complain — Not. In. My. Backyard.”

Bidding on the sculpture of the young magician battling the addictions monster will close on April 17 at the St. Charles Country Club at a fundraising event for the addictions centre. As of Monday, the highest bid was $800. Trust me, it’s worth a lot more.

“It (the sculpture) is awesome!” chirped our buddy Big Daddy Tazz, who will be the MC at the April 17 fundraiser for the centre.

“It’s like a $6,000 piece. One of the reasons Bruce (Oake) didn’t survive is because there was nowhere for him to go. The Oake family is trying to change that.”

Speaking of Tazz, the socially active stand-up comedian is once again trying to make Winnipeg a better place by hosting the 18th annual Big Daddy Tazz & Friends comedy night, being held Friday night at the Metropolitan Entertainment Centre on Donald Street.

(Tickets are $30 and are available at eventbrite.ca or at the door, while supplies last. Doors open at 6 p.m. and the show starts at 7:30 p.m.)

Tazz has put together a star-studded show to raise funds for the Winnipeg East AM Rotary Club and the local charities it supports.

“Rotary Club supports many other charities within the community,” Tazz explained.

“I support them because they support the community. I love what they do. They focus on a lot of smaller charities that need some extra funds.

“I can’t expect the community to support me if I don’t support my community. The show is jam-packed with stars. It’s our first time at the Met, so we’re very excited. There’ll be plenty of laughs and musical guests and some great prizes.”

The lineup features some heavy comedy hitters, including Greg Morton from the Just for Laughs Festival, who is famous for his two-minute rendition of the Star Wars trilogy. “He’s just really good,” is how Tazz put it.

The thing is, we need to help Jordan and Tazz help us. So, put in a hefty bid on Jordan’s fundraising sculpture and order tickets for Tazz’s comedy show.

You’ll be glad you did, but you don’t have to take my word for it.

When I asked our other lunch buddy, David Northcott, former CEO of Winnipeg Harvest, his thoughts about Jordan and Tazz’s charitable activities, here’s what he said: “They’re changing how advocacy works. Advocacy for change isn’t just about working hard. It’s about joy and creativity of the moment that says there’s a better way to go.”

Which I’m pretty sure is exactly what the Beatles were trying to say.

doug.speirs@freepress.mb.ca