Don Gavin
Don Gavin will host and headline the fourth annual Autism Speaks Comedy Night, to be held Oct. 20 at Montvale Plaza in Stoneham.
Proceeds from the show will benefit Autism Speaks and Nashoba Learning Group (NLG), a school in Bedford that provides state-of-the-art education and intervention services to children with autism and related developmental disabilities.
Autism Speaks is a national organization that provides funding for research projects that aim to uncover the cause, prevention, treatments and cure for autism.
In addition to Gavin, scheduled to perform at the benefit are: Patty Ross, Steve Sweeney, Dave Russo, Jim Colliton, Steve Donovan and others. The event will start with dinner at 6 p.m. followed by the comedy show. There will also be silent and live auctions.
Gavin, a Nahant resident who taught English and coached high school basketball for 12 years before making comedy his career, said he and his fellow comedians are always happy to get behind a good cause.
“If we can raise a few bucks and make some people laugh at the same time, that’s great,” he said. “When they find a cure for autism, that’s when we’ll have the real party.”
According to Autism Speaks, 1 in 110 individuals is diagnosed with autism, making it more common than pediatric cancer, diabetes, and AIDS combined. It occurs in all racial, ethnic, and social groups and is 3-4 times more likely to affect boys than girls. Autism impairs a person’s ability to communicate and relate to others.
Tickets for the Autism Speaks Comedy Night are $50. To purchase tickets or for more information, e-mail Paul Halloran at [email protected] or call him at 617-872-0384.
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