Edison National Bank Signs On as SalusCare Comedy Night "Showcase Sponsor"

FORT MYERS, Fla. - June 16, 2015 - PRLog -- Edison National Bank has signed on as the “Showcase Sponsor” of “Laughter Is the Best Medicine Comedy Night,” a unique new fund-raising event to benefit SalusCare, Inc.

The “Showcase Sponsor” is the highest level sold for the event that also has the support of more than $40,000 in sponsorships.  The laughter begins Saturday, July 25, at 7 p.m. at the Sidney & Berne Davis Art Center on First Street in downtown Fort Myers.

Individual tickets may be purchased at www.saluscarecomedynight.org or by calling 239-791-1575.  Tickets for individual seats are $100 each and include heavy hors d’oeuvres, beer and wine in theater-style seating. All tables have been sold.

Other major sponsors include Sam Galloway Ford, Investors’ Security Trust, Bill Smith Appliances, Marrikka & Bill Stockman, and The News-Press Media Group.  Monologue sponsors are Susan Bennett Marketing & Media and Genoa Pharmacy with support from 20 table sponsors.

“We are very thankful to the leadership of Edison National Bank and our other top sponsors for their generosity in supporting our mission to treat individuals with mental health and substance use disorders.” said SalusCare Development Committee Chair Mark Atkins. “Attendees will have the rare opportunity to see eight of our community’s leaders on stage performing five-minute comedy routines as well as laugh at the comedy of professional comic Michael Palascak,”

Atkins also announced that NBC-2 Chief Senior Meteorologist Robert Van Winkle will serve as master of ceremonies.

Palascak, who has family in Southwest Florida, agreed to perform pro-bono to support SalusCare’s cause of helping children with mental health substance use disorders.

In the last three years, Palascak appeared on The Late Show with David Letterman, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson.  He also has performed at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas and was the winner of HBO’s Lucky 21 Stand-up Contest.

Prior to Palascak’s performance, eight local celebrities will each perform five-minute stand-up routines in hopes of winning the title of “Lee County’s Best Comic:”

●  Michael Harris – News-Press Planning Editor

●  Larry Hart – Lee County Tax Collector

●  Gwendolyn Howard-Powell – owner of Gwendolyn’s Café

●  Doug Molloy – former Chief Assistant U.S. Attorney

●  Steve Russell – State Attorney for the 20^th Judicial Circuit

●  Marni Sawicki – Cape Coral Mayor

●  Mike Scott – Lee County Sheriff

●  Dr. Glenn Whitehouse – FGCU Associate Dean, Planning & Assessment

Audience members will “vote” for the best comedic performance by placing cash or checks in containers labeled for each comic.

To help the celebrity comics prepare for the evening, Sam Walch, a professor at Florida Gulf Coast University, is working with them individually to perfect their routines.

Walch is a former touring stand-up comedian who teaches comedy and public speaking in the Communications Department at FGCU.

Funds raised at the event will be used to provide outpatient psychiatry and therapy to children and adolescents in our area whose families can least afford it.   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.

For more information, contact Todd Cordisco at (239) 791-1575 or visit www.saluscarecomedynight.org .

About SalusCare, Inc.

SalusCare, Inc., is the largest, most comprehensive mental health and substance abuse treatment program in Southwest Florida, serving 17,000 people per year of all ages from seven locations in Lee County.   The non-profit organization offers crisis stabilization, detoxification, outpatient and residential treatment as well as prevention programming and an Employee Assistance Program for about 50 area companies. The majority of programs are accredited by CARF, the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities.

SalusCare services are not free.  Fees are charged on a sliding scale, based on family income.  In many cases, private insurance is accepted.  SalusCare is a United Way partner agency.