Denver Actors Fund rushes to Gary Duff and Margie Lamb’s aid with monetary and volunteer support
Aid recipients: Gary Duff and Maggie Lamb, parents of sons Blake and Chris, have been married since 1991. Gary, a graduate of Western Colorado University in Gunnison, has been a frequent production photographer, mostly at the Town Hall Arts Center and at special events. (In 2019, he was paid a $100 stipend by the Colorado Theatre Guild to snap backstage photos of that year’s Henry Awards, which he signed over that very night as a donation to The Denver Actors Fund.) Maggie Lamb had been performing in the local theatre community for two decades when she was cast as the bipolar wife and mother Diana in Next to Normal, and it changed the trajectory of her stage career. Maggie would never be looked at the same after playing Diana for the Midtown Arts Center, Ignite Theatre and Littleton Town Hall Arts Center. Her awards for the role included the 2011 Denver Post Ovation Award and a 2015 Westword Best of Denver Award. Before that, she spent five years as a Barnstormer at Country Dinner Playhouse and finally broke through playing chorus girls in classic musicals — including performing alongside future movie star Amy Adams in Crazy for You. Her work has been seen across Colorado, including at BDT Stage, The Arvada Center, Miners Alley Playhouse and Breckenridge Backstage Theater. More recent roles have included playing the adult women in Town Hall’s Spring Awakening, Mother Superior in Town Hall’s “Sister Act,” Alan’s mother in The Avenue Theater’s Equus and Abuelo Claudia in Town Hall’s In the Heights. Maggie trained at the former Loretto Heights College and the University of Denver. Maggie, too, has supported the DAF in the past by lending her talents to Miscast 2017.
A look back: The DAF first helped the Lamb-Duff family in 2018, when Maggie’s son was diagnosed with a lump on his thyroid. After a long surgical odyssey, he was cleared of cancer, and the DAF paid down $2,000 of the couple’s $2,877 out-of-pocket medical bill. Members of the community kicked in another $500 in targeted donations.
A new challenge: In April, Gary was diagnosed with a rare form of salivary gland cancer. He was put through life-saving (and life-threatening) surgery to have a Stage 3 tumor removed, then underwent a complete reconstruction of his soft palate. That was followed by weekday radiation treatments for six weeks. Then the bills started coming in from his 12-day hospital stay, including an ambulance ride, three days in ICU, respiratory care, dietician bills, individual doctor bills, weekly visits to an ENT surgeon’s office and speech therapy.
How we have helped: In two ways. Despite a significant income loss during the pandemic, Gary and Maggie paid down their bills as able, and submitted four others to the DAF for our consideration. The DAF Board voted unanimously to pay off those four bills, totaling $5182.77. That brings our overall level of support to the family to $7,682.77 to date. We consider this case open and ongoing as the next few months play out.
The Army of Angels reassembles: The DAF had paused our personal volunteer assistance program during the pandemic for safety reasons. But when Maggie and Gary were in need, we put out the call for help, and our Amy of Angels reassembled. DAF volunteers provided daily meals for Maggie and her sons every day for three weeks. Because Gary still can only drink gluten-free shakes rather than solid food, our volunteers had a constant stream of them delivered. (“That was the greatest thing ever,” says Maggie, herself a DAF volunteer.) Random greeting cards arrived in the mail daily. Among those who provided shakes: Robert Michael Sanders & Megan Van De Hey, Billie McBride & Lorrin Dyer, Mare Trevathan and Susan Lyles. Among those who provided home-cooked or delivered meals: Beki Pineda, Patty Holland Trout, Jessica Barnette and Nancy Trammell. Those who provided gift cards include Erin Rollman, Gabe Morales and Susan Lyles. Those who were on call for transportation service if needed: Daniel Perkins, Bob Wells and Beki Pineda. The team leader coordinating all of these efforts ways Nancy Trammell, who says: “Thanks for the opportunity to work with some of the most amazing people in the area. Theatre people are still the best!”
An update on Gary: Now that radiation is over (“That was the worst,” says Maggie), it’s possible Gary is now on the other side of this. He is currently considered cancer-free pending results of another MRI and PET scan in October. He can resume eating solid food in the next few weeks as his normal sense of taste returns.
How you can help us help replenish: The Denver Actors Fund has sent out more than $155,000 in assistance to Colorado theatre artists in 2021 alone, and yet because of the difficulty fundraising in a pandemic, we have “only” been able to bring about $100,000 of that back in. If you are in a position to help us replenish in honor of Gary and Maggie, simply mail checks in any amount made out to Denver Actors Fund to P.O. Box 11182, Denver, CO 80211. Or use this donation link, with our humble thanks!
‘YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW MUCH HELP YOU NEED UNTIL YOU ARE IN THE MEAT OF IT’
What Maggie said then (in 2018): “To my beautiful theatre family: You have helped me go from terrified and helpless to tearfully grateful and comforted. Thank you for every penny that you give. I never thought I would need to turn to the Denver Actors Fund. I can’t wait to give back and help give someone else I love the same relief. Thank you, DAF, for being here for all of us, because … you just never know.”
What Maggie says now: “The help we received from The Denver Actors Fund volunteers almost brought us to tears. It was such a tremendous daily help. I am not one to be taken care of, so that is hard for. Me. I don’t ever want to burden anyone. But when Beki Pineda started driving over three times a week from Aurora to our home in Lakewood, It was overwhelming. Every time she came, I almost cried. She wouldn’t let my stubbornness get in the way. You have no idea how much help you need until you are in the meat of it. The DAF volunteers helped me so that I could focus on Gary. We were just so blessed to have that burden of meals taken off us so we could focus on other things. And the monetary support took a big lump out of my stomach. We’re extremely lucky to have the Denver Actors Fund in in our community.”
The Denver Actors Fund has now made more than $845,000 available to Colorado artists in medical need. If you would to help us replenish our general fund, simply mail checks made out to The Denver Actors Fund to P.O. Box 11182, Denver, CO, 80211. Or use this donation link.
Read testimonials from other Denver Actors Fund beneficiaries here
Note: At the Denver Actors Fund, anonymity of aid recipients is presumed and fully protected, unless and until the recipient chooses to have his or her story told.
THE KINDNESS FUND CONTINUES THROUGH AUGUST 31:
The Denver Actors Fund has launched an innovative new emergency COVID relief fund – with a fun, humanitarian twist. The $70,000 KINDNESS Fund provides $250 monthly stipends to qualified Colorado theatre artists whose livelihoods have been impacted by the pandemic … when they perform a basic act of socially distanced kindness. Applications are being taken here through August 31.
ABOUT THE DENVER ACTORS FUND:
HOW TO APPLY FOR AID:
To apply for Denver Actors Fund aid: Fill out this brief online form
NEW: AFFORDABLE MENTAL HEALTH CARE
The Denver Actors Fund has announced a major new collaboration with the Maria Droste Counseling Center of Colorado to provide affordable, professional health care to any qualifying Colorado theatre artist who needs it. Click here for information
GET INSTANT, FREE MEDICAL ADVICE: The Denver Actors Fund has launch of a major new FREE medical service for qualified Colorado theatre artists: We are partnering with Hippo Health to provide access to emergency medical evaluations via video conferencing with a Board-certified physician. Click to read more about this wonderful, innovative new partnership that will further improve the lives of artists!
MORE WAYS TO HELP:
DONATE ONLINE:
Go to our online giving site at: ColoradoGives.Org
DONATE BY MAIL:
Send checks made out to The Denver Actors Fund to:
P.O. Box 11182
Denver, CO 80211
VOLUNTEER:
Ever thought about taking a more active role in The Denver Actors Fund? Click here for more information
SHOP AT KING SOOPERS
Sign up for King Soopers’ Community Rewards Program and raise money for The DAF just by shopping for your groceries – and it doesn’t cost you an extra penny. It’s like the Amazon Smile Program. To sign up, simply go here and designate The DAF as your preferred non-profit. Each quarter, King Soopers sends us a donation based on how much our supporters have spent. Thanks to all of you who are shopping for The DAF.
SHOP AMAZONSMILE
When you shop on Amazon, there is a simple and automatic way for you to support The Denver Actors Fund, at no cost to you. Simply click on the “Get Started” button to the left. Once you sign up with The Denver Actors Fund as your preferred charity, Amazon will donate 0.5 percent the price of your eligible AmazonSmile purchases. When you shop AmazonSmile instead of the regular Amazon, it’s still Amazon. You will find the exact same prices, selection and shopping experience as Amazon.com, with the added bonus that Amazon will donate a potion of your proceeds to The Denver Actors Fund. The gift to us is not added to your bill. It comes from Amazon. Questions? Here’s more info.
COME TO (OR STREAM!) THE EVENTS THAT SUPPORT US:
ONGOING: “Waiting for Obama,” the audio version of DAF Founder John Moore’s play that was an official selection at the 2016 New York International Fringe Festival, has been released as way of raising funds for The Denver Actors Fund. A Colorado Springs family is convinced that Barack Obama is coming for their guns in the final weeks of his presidency – and they’re right. Featuring Laurence Curry, Drew Horwitz, Chris Kendall, Leslie O’Carroll, Jenna Moll Reyes, Jessica Robblee, Luke Sorge and Mare Trevathan. It was recorded by the staff of Parker Arts at the PACE Center as an in-kind donation to The Denver Actors Fund. Listen for FREE on all major podcasting platforms including Spotify, Apple Podcasts and Podbean. Just by listening, you will be raising revenue for The DAF! Or, WATCH the recording as a pay-per-view video for $9.95 on Broadway on Demand. ‘Waiting for Obama’ was recorded by the staff of Parker Arts at the PACE Center and edited by Ray Bailey TV as in-kind donations to The Denver Actors Fund. The actors also donated their services.
VISIT OUR ONLINE MERCH STORE:
Click here to see how you can buy DAF products such as T-shirts, key chains, puzzles and much more.
