Happy tenth anniversary, Win-Win Entertainment… or I should say, Win Win Charity! That’s right, the children’s nonprofit organization I first began to visualize way back in 2011 has officially turned the big 1-0, and in celebration of our unbelievable growth, we’ve undergone a total visual rebrand complete with an updated name and logo!
I’d like to humbly introduce everyone to Win Win Charity, a new chapter for Win-Win Entertainment that we hope will bring more smiles, benefit more families, and impact more lives than ever before. You know we had to plan the ultimate celebration for this 10-year achievement — like the ultimate 10-hour telethon!
Tag along as I recount what made the 10-year Win Win Charity ten-ethon so special for everyone involved.
A New Chapter for Win Win Charity
Win Win Charity is the evolution of Win-Win Entertainment, a national nonprofit that brings smiles to children in hospitals by arranging in-person and virtual visits from professional entertainers, athletes, and celebrities. It feels like just yesterday that I was calling my friends and fellow performers, practically begging them to join my mission. Flash forward to today, and Win Win Charity serves 22 hospitals per week nationwide!
I recently announced five new Win Win Charity board members, which brought our number of community leaders to 17 individuals across four major cities — Vegas, Orlando, Minneapolis, and Nashville. To date, our incredible group of 100% volunteer-based staff has arranged nearly 900 shows and impacted 131,300 lives with more than 5,500 performer hours donated. With our 10-year anniversary in the books, the sky’s the limit now!
A Story 10 Years in the Making
As the 10th anniversary of Win Win Charity began to approach, our team wracked our brains to plan an event that would not only celebrate our decade of achievements but also showcase the entertainers, board members, and sponsors who made this children’s nonprofit organization possible in the first place. We asked ourselves, what if we could tell the story of our nonprofit over the past 10 years live over the course of 10 hours?
The next thing we knew, the 10-hour Zoom Telethon was on — featuring our volunteers, hospital partners, generous sponsors, and of course, our unrivaled network of selfless, talented performers! The entire Win Win community came together to recognize 10 years of extraordinary work achieved by extraordinary people, week in and week out.
As Founder and Chairman of Win Win, I hit up the Morning Blend and Las Vegas Now with board member Time Gabrielson to spread the word about the telethon. Finally, on Friday, December 1, the crew gathered at Show Creators Studios in Las Vegas to celebrate. We had more than 50 performers Zoom in to provide entertainment, as well as a ton of pre-recorded testimonials from hospital partners, patients, and past performers.
An Ultimate Children’s Nonprofit Ten-ethon
The Win Win Charity 10-Year Telethon was brilliant from start to finish! At the core of this event were the four groups I could not wait to celebrate — the hospitals we serve, the board members who volunteer their time, the performers at the heart of our network, and the sponsors who cover the costs to make everything possible.
Take a look at a fraction of their highlights from our 10-year anniversary 10-hour ten-ethon!
Spotlight for the Hospitals We Serve
Though the entire 10-hour telethon was live-streamed, we completed the final hour of the event in front of a live studio audience of performers, sponsors, supporters, and hospital partners, including representatives from the University Medical Center (UMC) of Southern Nevada, the site of Win Win’s first-ever children’s hospital program.
One of the most rewarding moments was when UMC CEO, Mason VanHouweling, remarked on stage, “I truly believe Win Win is an important part of our healing team and patient care team. Thank you for all the years of smiles, laughter, and entertainment. I am forever grateful, but more importantly, all of our patients are forever grateful.”
I’m not crying, you are! Okay, maybe I’m crying too… thank you, Mason and our UMC partners!
Gratitude for Our Selfless Performers
It’s no secret that Win Win Charity would be nothing without our awesome network of volunteer performers. While we celebrated all of the individuals who helped contribute smiles to children who needed them most, we also made sure to acknowledge the incredible contributions of master magician and illusionist John Rotellini!
Since getting involved in 2014, John became the first entertainer in Win Win’s history to perform over 200 shows for children in hospitals. For reaching this milestone — and for performing multiple virtual shows per day during the height of COVID — Win Win honored John by not only presenting him with the 2022 Entertainer of the Year award but by naming the annual award after him! What a wonderful start to a new tradition, right?
Celebration for Our Board of Directors
Our children’s nonprofit organization has been made possible by a ton of sweat equity from our board members. Case in point? Our recent rebrand from Win-Win Entertainment to Win Win Charity with the reveal of a new logo and visual identity! We spent from February to November nailing down all the new rebrand details.
Of course, we knew we had to enter our second decade with a renewed focus on the positive impacts our mission has on the children, families, and hospital staff served. While the process to complete our rebrand might have been stressful at times, it was most definitely worth it to celebrate our wins with a well-deserved champagne toast!
Recognition for Our Generous Sponsors
Last but (certainly) not least, it was spectacular to have time throughout the 10-hour telethon to show our appreciation for our generous sponsors. Win Win is beyond grateful to have received donations from headline sponsors IGT, as well as supporting sponsors Caesars Entertainment, Findlay Automotive Group, C3 Presents, Dignity Health, Spiegelworld, Siegel Cares, and University Medical Center of Southern Nevada!
As I recognize our sponsors, I also have to extend a massive thank-you to those who donated during our telethon. We raised a whopping $86,000 to help accelerate our reach and impact in the years to come! These funds will help improve our production quality as well as hire our first-ever paid staff member, a major inflection point for this previously 100% volunteer children’s nonprofit organization. Just imagine how much we can grow!
A Look to the Future of Win Win Charity
Between the kind words from our hospital partners and the unbeatable generosity from our board members, performers, and sponsors, I’m confident that the best is yet to come for Win Win Charity. When I look to the future of this Las Vegas-born children’s nonprofit organization, I am filled with immense pride — pride I cannot wait to share!
I was so fortunate to have my mom and dad in the audience for the last hour of the telethon (especially since they just flew from Philly to San Diego to join me on a Thanksgiving Disney Cruise!), as well as the friends who have become like family to me these past 10 years. Win Win Charity, I am ecstatic to see what’s next!
Would you like to support the continued growth of Win Win Charity? Click here to donate!
