Update on Jesse Appell’s Fundraiser

Dear All,

We would like to give you an update on the result of the fundraiser – Comedy for a Cause with Jesse Appell on 2/12: Donation on the night of the show and tickets sold at Newton North reached $8,684, and online tickets and donation accumulated to $3,600. So our fundraiser totalled $12,284. The Newton exchange school, Jingshan School in Beijing, has asked us to donate all the funds raised for their students to Wuhan as well. Therefore checks of these funds have been made out to “WeStar Corp.”(http://westonwestar.org/), which is a Weston-based non-profit organization that purchases medical supplies and ships to Wuhan and surrounding cities in Hubei Province.

Jesse Appell, Henry Turner, the Newton North principal, along with Emily Donahue, teacher from Peirce Elementary School, and David Minichiello, teacher from Memorial Spaulding Elementary School, who were both supposed to go on the Jingshan Exchange this year, went to WeStar headquarters last week and packed our supplies for Wuhan. Some Chinese AP class students also participated in this meaningful mission! Please see the attached pictures.

If you were not at the show, the video below will give you a glimpse of the night. You may also enjoy Jesse’s interview with WBUR’s “Here and Now.” These videos are broadcasted on China’s major news media and picked up by many social media as well. Last night, the viewer surpassed 100 million!

Video of the fundraiser: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQQnH-A0fug

NPR’s “Here and Now”: https://www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2020/02/27/covid-19-coronavirus-jesse-appell-china?fbclid=IwAR2NAgqQyWitXdTkl6d5bAYZyqd3GXjRZ7PiCMmMGi9_wGj90d2S_rcq5pA

We are immensely humbled and touched by the efforts, kindness and generosity that our community has demonstrated. We feel very grateful for being part of this collective endeavor for humanity.

Best regards,

Star Lew, Ming Lu and Yuzhe WangChinese

Teachers

Newton North High School