TORONTO – While coming up with its inaugural event idea, members of Jewish Family & Child’s (JF&CS) Emerging Leaders group said they wanted something that would resonate with young professionals, something funny and lighthearted, but for a good cause. The result was Cringe Worthy, where real people shared real, not to mention embarrassing, stories from their adolescence, with 100% of the proceeds going toward a camp subsidy for underprivileged Jewish kids.
Audience members heard stories about a boy confused about when his period was coming, an ICQ conversation gone dreadfully wrong, and an overzealous account of a teenager who got a moth stuck in his ear while camping.
The reception was greater than anticipated, with a sold-out crowd of over 150 young professionals raising over $15,000 to send kids to camp, and JF&CS Emerging Leaders went back to the drawing board to work on their next event, which will take place on April 6 at Revival in downtown Toronto.
Presenting Cringe Worthy 2.0: Bigger, better, and cringier.
“We learned so much in planning that first event that we wanted to take that momentum and roll with it, so we feel it will be way more comfortable this year,” Angie Shiffman, official co-chair of the Cringe Worthy 2.0 committee, tells The CJN.
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This year’s event will benefit Jewish Family & Child’s Levelling the Playing Field program, which gives children in its care and from families living in poverty the opportunities to enjoy similar pursuits to their peers. The fund enables JF&CS to purchase goods and services such as computers and software; sports equipment; fitness memberships; music, art, dance or other extra-curricular lessons; clothing for special events such as graduation, and so on.
“It benefits youth (typically foster kids) that come from families struggling financially who otherwise wouldn’t have these opportunities,” Shiffman says.
“We want to make people aware of JF&CS and the great programs that are offered,” adds co-chair Lisa Winberg.
Whereas last year’s event featured a camp theme, Cringe Worthy 2.0 will offer “a few awkward after-school stories, some camp stories,” and everything in between.
“Cringe Worthy is just so relatable,” says Shiffman. “Being a young adult is an incredibly awkward experience but it’s something that we all have in common, and we think that’s why young professionals responded to last year’s event: because we’ve all been there.”
This year’s event will be hosted by actor/comedian and Cringe Worthy veteran Dave Keystone, whose story last year about a moth who lived in his ear for seventeen hours drew genuine laughs from the audience.
There will definitely be some familiar faces, but expect a few new performers as well, says Shiffman, who had a “pretty cringe-worthy childhood” herself. For her, being involved with JF&CS is a family tradition: Her father, Richard Cummings, retired as its executive director last year.
“Staying involved was never a question for me, because it reminds me of how lucky I am to come from the background I do. There are people out there that are struggling and just need a little bit of help to enjoy the same things,” she said.
To purchase tickets to Cringe Worthy 2.0, which takes place at Revival (783 College Street West) starting at 7 p.m. on April 6, click here.
