Jeannine Luby’s Donor-Advised Humor Fund Distributes Grant to Abington Library The Scranton Area Community Foundation recently awarded the Abington Community Library with a grant from the donor-advised Humor Therapy Fund developed in 2005 at the request of Jeannine Luby, who initiated the idea for this fund as part of her graduate work at Marywood University. The goal of the Fund is to help area nonprofits spread therapeutic humor and laughter to their clients, employees and/or community members. Luby continues to raise money for the Fund annually and advises on grant disbursement each year. The Abington Library received this year’s grant to fund their ‘Laughter Lab’ project to be held in April for teens in the Abington community. Teens will benefit from the opportunity to connect, express their humor and creativity, and experience stress relief from humor and laughter as they learn comedy improv from instructors at Scranton Improv and Comedy and stress-relieving laughter yoga that will be donated by Luby from her business Laugh to Live! Participants of the Laughter Lab will also receive humor toolkits and have an opportunity to show off their improv skills in a comedy performance that will be follow the April workshop at a later date. Past recipients of The Humor Therapy Fund grant include: Boys and Girls Clubs of Northeastern Pennsylvania, NAMI Northeast Region PA, Goodwill Industries of Northeast PA, Serving Seniors, Meals on Wheels, Volunteers in Medicine, and Laughing At My Nightmare. To donate to the Fund or learn about how your nonprofit can apply for next year’s grant, visit: https://safdn.org/the-humor-therapy-fund/.
Jeannine Luby Sponsors ‘Laugh A Latte’ Chamber member Jeannine Luby, owner of Laugh to Live, recently collaborated with Scranton organizations NEPA Networkers and Urban Co-Works to offer local professionals the opportunity to warm up on a cold January morning. Luby sponsored the event ‘Laugh A Latte’ that brought together about 20 attendees for coffee, conversation and a sampling of stress-relieving laughter yoga. Luby and NEPA Networkers Board President Bob Courtwright greeted participants.
Everhart Museum Winter Events Knox Mine Disaster Presentation Friday, January 17 | 5:30–7:30 p.m Join us Friday, January 17 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. as we observe Anthracite Heritage Month with a special reception for the exhibition Northeastern Pennsylvania Coalfields: Preservation, Praise, Promise, on view through January 26, and a presentation on the Knox Mine Disaster by documentary filmmaker David Brocca. During the evening, Brocca creator of the 2016 film Knox Mine Disaster, which chronicles the catastrophic mine flood in Jenkins Township, PA in 1959, will discuss the tragedy and its lasting legacy while presenting a variety of artifacts from the event. Guests will also have the chance to view Northeastern Pennsylvania Coalfields, which showcases the coal heritage of the region through art; coal mining tools and wares; and geological specimens. Learn about the region’s coal history while enjoying a fine selection of beers and seltzers from Susquehanna Brewing Co. (the first drink is included with the price of admission), and listening to tunes by Lex Romane, who will be playing an assortment of collected songs and original material that anthologize the history and tough life of the coal miner. To register, visit https://everhart-museum.org/knox-mine-disaster/. Underground Miners @ the Everhart Saturday, February 1 | 12:00–3:30 p.m. The Everhart is teaming up with the Underground Miners to host a special presentation to help close out Anthracite Mining Heritage Month and the exhibition Northeastern Pennsylvania Coalfields: Preservation, Praise, Promise. Chris Murley and Banks Ries of the Underground Miners will hold a video screening and discussion about the closure of one of the last operating deep anthracite mines in NEPA: “The 7-Foot Slope” in New Philadelphia. This will also be one of your last opportunities to view the Everhart Museum’s featured installation Northeastern Pennsylvania Coalfields. After the presentation, from 3:30 to 5:00 p.m., there will be tours of the Brooks Coal Mine Tour directly behind the Everhart Museum. Admission is free for both the presentation and the tour, but seating is limited, so please register in advance at https://everhart-museum.org/underground-miners/. Galentine’s in the Gallery Thursday, February 6 | Doors at 6:30 p.m. | Show from 7:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. The Everhart Museum and Funny Wine Girl present Galentine’s in the Gallery, an evening of wine, chocolate, and stand-up comedy on Thursday,February 6. Celebrate the spirit of Valentine’s Day with your gal pals by enjoying the hilarious comedy of Funny Wine Girl Jeannine Luby, Micki Orlowsky, and Emily Epstein White. With your ticket you will receive a custom Funny Wine Girl chocolate bar by Electric City Sweets as well as your first drink. Additional wine and beer as well as Belgium chocolate bars by Electric City Sweets in a variety of flavors will be available for purchase. Register today at https://everhart-museum.org/galentines-in-the-gallery/. This is a 21+ event. Advance Tickets: Everhart Members $30 Non-Members $35 At the door day of the show: $40 Valentine’s Week Kickoff Yoga with Mindy Hill Saturday, February 8 | 10:00–11:00 a.m. Kick off Valentine’s Week with some self-love in a healthy and positive space as Mindy Hill presents a yoga session in the galleries of the Everhart. Featuring fluid movement, vinyasa, and twists, flow is a practice that increases circulation of blood and prana (life-force energy), and helps to clear a foggy mind. Register today at https://everhart-museum.org/valentines-yoga/. The $10 registration fee includes Museum entry after class. WVIA Wednesdays at the Everhart: News Listening Tour Wednesday, February 12 | 2:00–3:30 p.m. Join us for the fourth installment of WVIA Wednesdays at the Everhart as we present the first “News Listening Tour.” During this event, members of the WVIA News Team will meet and discuss the area’s most important stories with community members. Stay tuned for registration to open at https://www.wvia.org/events. WVIA Wednesdays at the Everhart is a free monthly screening series programmed in partnership with WVIA Public Media especially for senior citizens. One Wednesday afternoon per month, a PBS documentary tied into the Everhart’s mission of natural history, science, art, and humanities will be screened in the Museum’s galleries.
Jeannine Luby Creates Connections and Laughter Plan to Start the New Year by Creating Connections and Laughing to Lower Stress at Collaborative Event in Scranton Even if you didn’t make a resolution to incorporate more networking and healthy activity into your days, local organizations in Scranton are collaborating to give you the opportunity to do just that because they know how good it is for you! It is the mission of NEPA Networkers to connect talented people of Northeast PA through events with the purpose of fostering business and career growth so when Laugh to Live owner Jeannine Luby suggested collaborating on an event with them, Bob Courtright, the face of NEPA Networkers and board president, agreed it was a good idea. Luby has benefitted personally and professionally from attending various business mixers hosted by NEPA Networkers and thought laughter would be a good addition to networking and coffee and came up with “Laugh A Latte,” an event being hosted on Wednesday, January 8 at 8:30AM at Urban Co-Works at 116 N. Washington Ave. in downtown Scranton, on the third floor. The purpose of this event is to provide people with a unique opportunity to connect and experience a sampling of brain-boosting, stress-relieving laughter over coffee and light refreshments in the modern co-working space that is Urban Co-Works. Anyone interested can also receive a tour of the facility. Luby hopes that people take advantage of this opportunity to boost brain function and mood and lower stress and anxiety and get inspired to think about wellness options for employees, volunteers clients, etc. in their organization. She said, “According to the American Psychological Association’s 2023 “Work in America Survey,” 77% of U.S. workers reported experiencing work-related stress in the past month, with 57% stating that this stress negatively impacted their health, highlighting a concerning level of workplace stress. Stress is costly–both personally and professionally. But we know from a multitude of studies that laughter can help us to lower the stress hormone cortisol, boost the ‘feel good’ hormones of endorphins and oxytocin, and provide several other wellness benefits, so my question is, ‘Why aren’t we laughing more? ” The Laugh A Latte event on January 8 is free to the public. Reach out to Jeannine at Jeannine.Luby@gmail.comwith any questions and to RSVP.
Jeannine Luby Warms Up Scranton Residents with Laughter The temperature hung around 29 degrees but the sunshine and laughter made it feel much warmer when the Connell Park Walking Club gathered on the last Saturday in November. Jannine Luby’s businesses, Laugh to Live, a Scranton-based business, collaborated with Valley in Motion’s Connell Park Walking Club to provide stress-lowering laughter yoga before the Club’s weekly walk around the park. With a lot of breathing in and out, clapping and chants of ho ho ho, ha ha ha and hee hee hee, it didn’t take long for the group to connect, smile and experience the many researched benefits of laughter. Some of the benefits are: healthier blood flow, lower cortisol (stress hormone), boosted endorphins (hormone that helps to manage pain and improve mood), lower blood glucose and more. Gus Fahey, president of Valley in Motion that supports the walking club project said, “The laughter yoga on Saturday was great. It was awesome the way Jeannine kept up the enthusiasm on a cold morning!” Luby was happy to see share laughter yoga with the small group who gathered so they could understand how valuable laughter can be as a resource for self-care and overall well-being, especially at this time of year when we tend to set high expectations and busy schedules. “It’s important that we hit the pause button on our running around and on all of the noise that is out there on social media. It can feel overwhelming. Sometimes we can help ourselves by simply taking a few deep breaths. Add belly laughs and you’re helping yourself recharge to face those long to-do lists.” If you’re interested in healthy activities to lower your stress and anxiety and to boost overall wellness, follow the Connell Park Walking Club on Facebook for their walk schedule and follow Laugh to Live on Facebook for live daily morning laughter yoga throughout the month of December.
Jeannine Luby to Help Celebrate National Humor Month by Raising Fun and Funds Laugh your stress away at Jeannine Luby’s, aka Funny Wine Girl’s stand-up comedy show on Friday, April 26 at Groove Brewing in Scranton. The show will feature Luby, one of NEPAs funniest Mary Rapach, and NEPA native Tim Conniff. You can feel good not only from the laughter but from knowing that a portion of proceeds will benefit the Northeastern Pennsylvania’s Crisis Intervention Team that offers training and programs for area first responders with the following goals: improving interaction between law enforcement and persons with mental illness; preventing the inappropriate restraint, incarceration, and stigmatization of persons with mental illness; reducing injury to officers, family members, and individuals in crisis; and linking individuals with mental illness to appropriate treatment and resources in the community. Ticket price of $30 includes comedy show and contribution to fundraiser. Beverages at Groove Brewing are sold separately. Purchase your tickets here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/850113691937?aff=oddtdtcreator
Jeannine Luby Presents Grant to Boys and Girls Clubs of NEPA The Humor Therapy Fund of the Scranton Area Foundation is a donor-advised fund that was initiated in 2006 by Jeannine Luby, owner of Laugh to Live, as part of a graduate project at Marywood University. The fund was created with the purpose of promoting therapeutic laughter and humor throughout the greater Scranton area, which Luby says is needed now more than ever. Each year a grant is dispersed to a local 501c3 nonprofit organization and this year that recipient is the Boys and Girls Clubs of Northeastern Pennsylvania who will use the funding to bring in the award-winning ‘Josh and Gab’ kindness and bullying-awareness musical comedy program that focuses on healthy choices, creativity, and community. Pictured in photo from left are Angel, Tricia Thomas, Executive Director of the Boys and Girls Club of Northeastern Pennsylvania; Jeannine Luby, owner of Laugh to Live & donor adviser of the Humor Therapy Fund of the Scranton Area Foundation, and Willow.
