Denver Actors Fund props up Props Artisan when surgical bill comes due
Financial-aid recipient: Ashley Lawler moved to Denver last August to join the Denver Center for the Performing Arts as a seasonally contracted Properties Artisan. “I was finally living my dream of moving out West, and finally starting back to work again after the pandemic,” she says. Her projects for the DCPA Theatre Company have included the recent world-premiere musical “Rattlesnake Kate,” written by Neyla Pekarek and Karen Hartman. Ashley is originally from Spencerport, N.Y., and most recently worked for Santa Fe Opera, The Juilliard School and “Sleep No More” in New York City. She studied Production Design and Technology at Ohio University, and Scenic design at State University of New York Fredonia.
Her medical story: Ashley’s doctor recently recommended that she have a growing lump in her breast removed that thankfully turned out to be benign, but she was left with $3,143.34 in out-of-pocket medical expenses after insurance.
How we have helped: The Denver Actors Fund Board of Directors unanimously voted to pay Ashley’s $3,143.34 medical obligation in full.
‘I WISH THAT OUR MEDICAL SYSTEM WASN’T SO MEDIEVAL, THAT HEALTH INSURANCE WASN’T SUCH A SCAM, THAT OUR GOVERNMENT GAVE A DAMN … AND THAT AN ORGANIZATION SUCH AS THE DAF DIDN’T HAVE TO EXIST.’
How you can help us replenish: If you would like to help, simply mail checks made out to The Denver Actors Fund to P.O. Box 11182, Denver, CO 80211. Or use this donation link. Your donation will be applied to the replenishment of the Denver Actors Fund’s general fund.
A message from Ashley: “I am so very grateful to the Denver Actors Fund for your help with my medical bills! When my doctor recommended this surgery, I figured that since I’m employed and have health insurance, it wouldn’t be so bad. But when the hospital called to tell me how much I would owe before my surgery, I just broke down crying at work. The number was much higher than I thought, and it just floored me. My co-worker Meghan Markiewicz told me about the DAF, and it sounded wonderful. Just knowing that the Fund exists helped ease my mind when facing my surgery, which I was quite nervous about. It helped a great deal to know that there is an organization that I could look to for support. Everything went well, and I’m all recovered, back to work making props at the DCPA. I really don’t know how to say thank you enough. It was so easy to apply, and the process of getting aid so seamless. I wish that our medical system wasn’t so medieval, that health insurance wasn’t such a scam, that our government gave a damn about anyone but oil companies, and that an organization such as the DAF didn’t have to exist. I’m grateful that one exists just for theater people. We work so hard, and most people don’t know we exist. They enjoy the theater but just think it was all bought on Amazon or something. It’s wonderful knowing the DAF is out there, knowing we exist, and wanting to help. I’m so grateful to the DAF and the donors who make it possible. Thank you very very much!”
(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.)
Read more Denver Actors Fund testimonials by clicking here
HOW YOU CAN HELP US REPLENISH:
To DONATE the Denver Actors Fund, please CLICK HERE (with our humble thanks)
ABOUT THE DENVER ACTORS FUND:
Video above: The Denver Actors Fund receives the Colorado Theatre Guild’s 2016 Community Impact Award.
The Denver Actors Fund is a modest source of immediate, situational relief when members of the local theater community find themselves in medical need. To date, the Fund has allocated more than $950,000 to artists facing medical need. In addition to financial relief, a team of more than 100 Denver Actors Fund volunteers offers good neighborly assistance including meal prep and delivery, child care, transportation, errands, construction, pet-sitting and more. For more information, visit our web site at DenverActorsFund.Org.
HOW TO APPLY FOR AID:
To apply for Denver Actors Fund aid: Fill out this brief online form here
MORE WAYS TO HELP:
DONATE BY MAIL:
Send checks made out to the Denver Actors Fund to:
P.O. Box 11182
Denver, CO 80211
SUPPORT THE EVENTS THAT SUPPORT US:
MONDAY, JUNE 13: Our friends at Town Hall Arts Center are continuing on their incredible promise to designate one performance per run with 100 percent of all proceeds from ticket and concession sales to be donated to The Denver Actors Fund. Join us for “The Wedding Singer,” based on a the popular Adam Sandler movie. The years is 1985. The place is New Jersey. Robbie, a wannabe rock star, is left at the altar and starts changing his tune. Enter Julia, a waitress who wins his affection. As luck would have it, Julia is about to be married to a Wall Street shark – unless Robbie pulls of the performance of a decade, the girl of his dreams will be gone forever.
Tickets only $25 (normally as much as $52). Reserve your seats at at 303-794-2787 or townhallartscenter.org.
- Directed and Choreographed by Nick Sugar
- Music Direction by Donna K. Debreceni
- Production Stage Manager: Jane Stewart
CAST:
- Damon Guerrasio: Robbie
- Lynzee Jones: Julia
- Logan Traver: Glen
- Kelsey Rich: Holly
- Gibran Mahmud: George
- Mike Martinkus: Sammy
- Annie Dwyer: Rosie
- Krystle Schaub: Linda
- Jamie Molina: Angie
- Jahalia Coleman: Crystal\Tina Turner
- Asad Clinton: Mookie\Mr. T
- William Riley Holmes: Reagan\Ensemble
- Andrew Alber: Harold\Ensemble
- Kayleigh Bernier: Debbie\Ensemble
- Katie Jackson: Cyndi\Ensemble
- Adam Kilgore: Dave\Ensemble
- Junelle Gabrielle Flores: Imelda\Ensemble
- Gabe Morales: Ensemble
- Caleb Reed: Understudy
- Lacey Eberl: Understudy
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.
ONGOING: “Quarantine Week by Weak” is a new photographic coffee-table book by Susannah McLeod and her wife, Chloe McLeod, who chronicled their home life during the COVID19 shutdown with a light-hearteded photo series documenting their lives during quarantine. They produced more than 35 sets of humorous photos comparing the beginning of quarantine to later in the “stay-at-home” period. Susannah pulled out her camera and we started to play,” said Chloe McLeod. As popularity for the series grew on Instagram and after a feature in Westword, the couple started exploring options to publish the series as a book to benefit The Denver Actors Fund. To order, visit mcleod9creative.com. This project is generously sponsored by: The Albritton Family; Natalie Bowen and Jim Corbett; Dave Dyer; Julie Dyer; and Denise Gentilini and Lynette Prisner. Additional support provided by Angie Flachman and Sandy Birkey at The Publishing House and Sandra Lee Stuart.
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
