Crime Stoppers chairman Keith de Bellefeuille Percy outside Absolute Comedy.
The National Capital Area Crime Stoppers is taking a laugh-out-loud approach to Ottawa-area crime this March with its newest annual fundraiser to be held at Absolute Comedy on Preston Street.
On March 31, Crime Stoppers will be hosting its first annual Crushing Crime with Comedy event as a “positive approach” to a “serious enough topic,” says Lucia Harper, communications chair for the organization.
“When you inject some fun into your fundraising, you have a greater opportunity for success and meeting your fundraising goals,” she says.
Absolute Comedy seats 180 people and the tickets for the show are $20. The revenue for the night is going into the group’s rewards fund, which pays up to $2,000 to people who submit a crime tip that leads to an arrest, says Harper.
She says the comedians lined up for the show have “tried-and-true funny track records” and that “it will really be an enjoyable evening for the community.”
Headlining the performance is seasoned comedian and theatre actor Pierre Brault. With 17 years of stand-up experience and hundreds of hours on stage acting, Brault knows how to work with a crowd.
“I’m one who loves to engage with the audience . . . and ask questions . . . and try to find the humour in just about every situation,” says Brault.
He says he will be talking about love, life and his personal “brushes with the law.”
Brault says he is honoured to be headlining a show for an organization that has a cause “that people can rally around . . . and allows for neighbours to look after neighbours.”
Apart from raising funds, Crime Stoppers also hopes to raise awareness about just how much the organization does for the city and surrounding communities.
“A lot of people don’t know what we are and how we do what we do,” says Keith de Bellefeuille Percy, chairman of the board for the Ottawa-area branch of Crime Stoppers.
One big move that Crime Stoppers has made in recent years is making the most out of social media. It has jumped on the Twitter, Facebook and YouTube bandwagon in an effort to cater to a wider audience, which de Bellefeuille Percy says has a huge impact on crime.
Within a two week period last year, he says Crime Stoppers received tips through different social media outlets that led to the arrest of two pedophiles, solved a major domestic abuse case where the police seized weapons, and helped with the arrest of a major Ottawa gang member.
“We are one – only one – of the many reasons why this is a magnificent city and region to live in – because we keep a relatively safe city,” says de Bellefeuille Percy.
“It would just be so helpful if more people appreciated that” by coming out to future events and supporting the organization.
Harper says she hopes this will be “an annual destination fundraiser for people in Ottawa.”