Last night, Paul Rudd, who is currently starring in GRACE on Broadway, hosted an All Star Bowling Event to benefit Our Time at Lucky Strike. Attendees for the special event included: Mariska Hargitay, Steve Kazee, Eve Plumb, Anthony Rapp, Daphne Rubin-Vega, Amy Ryan, and many more. BroadwayWorld was there for the festivities, and you can check out full coverage below!
Founded in 2001, Our Time is a non-profit organization that helps young people who stutter improve their confidence and communication skills. Children who stutter, ages 8-18, from around the nation and abroad join a community of unconditional acceptance where they discover the importance of expressing their unique and valuable voices. Through performing arts, speech therapy, and summer camp programs, participants develop vital communication skills, gain validating friendships, receive mentorship from adult role models, and experience motivating success.
The company offers its NYC programming free of charge and provides financial aid for its speech therapy services and Camp Our Time. It is estimated that over 68 million people in the world stutter, including 5% of all children. This common yet widely misunderstood speech disorder can cause extreme emotional distress in kids who struggle not only with verbal communication but also with shame, discrimination, bullying, and social isolation. Stuttering can claim a child's desire to speak, and ultimately their ability to achieve their dreams. Our Time provides holistic treatment options for stuttering which address the emotional, social, and physical impacts of the disorder.
The company's programs are designed to reorient children to believe that communicating their thoughts and feelings is more important than hiding their stuttering from others. When participants learn they can embrace a positive self-identity as a person who stutters, and reduce their struggle with speech, they can overcome social and academic obstacles and reach their fullest potential.
Photo Credit: Kevin Thomas Garcia
Taro Alexander, Paul Rudd and the "Our Time" kids
Paul Rudd and an "Our Time" kid
Alysia Reiner and David Alan Basche
Anthony Rapp and the "Our Time" kids
Alexander Ludwig and Guest
Videos