CARE 66 fundraiser means continued service to Gallup

In the cubicle where he stays at Care 66, Kenny Grissom packs a bag to run daily errands Thursday, November 13. — © 2009 Gallup Independent / Cable Hoover

Copyright © 2009
Gallup Independent
By Elizabeth Hardin-Burrola
Staff writer

GALLUP — Nationally known comedian Jeffrey Jena will be the featured entertainer for CARE 66’s annual Gala Event in March.

CARE 66 — Community Area Resource Enterprise, Inc. — Gallup’s nonprofit organization that offers transitional housing and services to local homeless people, is hosting the 2009 Gala Event from 6 p.m. to midnight on March 7, at the Red Rock Park Banquet Hall. The evening will feature dinner, dancing, and comedy by Jena. Tickets are $75 per person, and corporate sponsorship of tables is available.

Dick Chavez and his Gallupeño Band will provide Spanish, country, and rock ’n’ roll dance music after Jena’s comedy routine.

A former public school math and science teacher, Jena has enjoyed a long career as a stand-up comedian. He left teaching after trying out his comedic skills at the Comedy Annex. His one-man show, “Grounded Forever,” is a performance piece that draws on Jena’s seven years of teaching and 40 years of living. After performing at Comedy Annex, Jena moved to Chicago to study improvisational comedy with the legendary Del Close of Second City.

Jenna has performed in over 1,000 venues, including clubs, cruise ships, and Las Vegas shows, and he has opened for a variety of entertainers, from Jeffrey Osborne and The Temptations to Delbert McClintock and Englebert Humerdinck.

Jena has appeared on over 35 national television shows, including “The Dennis Miller Show,” HBO’s “Short Attention Span,” “Evening at the Improv,” “The Jenny McCarthy Show,” “NBC ‘s Friday Night,” and “The Showtime Comedy Club Network.” Jena is also a comedy instructor at the Funny Bone at Newport, Ky., and Dayton, Ohio.

He’s a frequent radio guest on the “Bob and Tom Show,” a nationally syndicated show, and the “Mark Germain Talk Show” in Los Angeles. As an actor, Jena has appeared on the television shows “Murder She Wrote” and “Hunter.” His film “Raising the Dead” will be released in the spring.

Local community members are invited to volunteer to help with the organization and staging of the 2009 Gala Event.

Information: (505) 722-0066 or www.care66.org