IMG_30963ElaineHawkinsTomChaseandSandyStilwellsmaller
Laughter rocked the Sidney & Berne Davis Art Center Saturday (July 25) as nine local celebrities took to the stage before a sold-out crowd in hopes of being named “Lee County’s Best Comic.”
By the end of the night, the duo of Sandy Stilwell, CEO of Stilwell Enterprises, and Elaine Hawkins, president/CEO of Private Client Insurance Group, claimed the title after earning the greatest number of votes from attendees, who voted with their money. The duo raised about $10,000.
More than 200 people jammed the center for “Laughter Is the Best Medicine” and plunked down cash, checks and credit cards to vote for their favorite comic. A total of $55,000 was raised for SalusCare, Inc., the region’s largest provider of behavioral healthcare.
The funds will be used to pay for outpatient psychiatry for children whose families can least afford care. One in 10 children has serious mental health problems severe enough to impair how they function at home, in school, or in the community, according to the National Center for Children & Poverty at Columbia University. Left untreated, mental illnesses can lead to more difficult to treat illnesses and to the development of co-occurring disorders.
Other celebrity comics for the night were:
- Tom Chase – Fort Myers “Country Lawyer”
- Chris Cifatte – WINK-TV News Anchor
- Tom Cronin – Shell Factory General Partner
- Stephanie Davis – Downtown Diva and Gulfshore Life's Ms. Adventure
- Brian Hamman – Lee County Commissioner
- Nancy McGovern – Lee Memorial Health System Board of Directors
- Sheldon Zoldan – News-Press Content Strategist