Help Kickstart the Jambulance
The Emergency Circus hopes to embark on a healing circus tour across North America.
photo courtesy Emergency Circus
The Emergency Circus needs your help to make their efforts, antics and laughter touch more people across the country who may need something to brighten their spirits.
On Saturday, Dec. 7, the Emergency Circus’ Kickstarter campaign to raise money for their future tour, will end. And that means that the race is on to meet their monetary goal, or their dreams of spreading laughter to hospitals and nursing homes may remain just that – a dream.
“It’s an all or nothing campaign funded by people who believe in the project,” said Clay “Mazing” Letson of Emergency Circus.” As of Tuesday, Dec. 3, they were still over $3,000 away from their goal of $11,111.
The funds collected from the Crowd Funding Campaign will allow the Emergency Circus to make their Jambulance – an ambulance acquired and retrofitted into a circus tour vehicle – run on vegetable oil and solar panels.
“We want to be as environmentally and economically stable as we can be,” he said. “That’s why we need this money so that we can do this as best we can and as fast as we can.”
The Emergency Circus is Tucson based non-profit and an affiliate of the Gesundheit! Institute that was founded by the real-life Dr. Hunter “Patch” Adams.
“Our first show was in Tucson, and many of our performers are Tucsonans,” Clay explained. “It’s a very Tucson-y project, for sure.”
Clay “Mazing” and his friends decided that they wanted to take the spirit of laughter and fun to uplift the hurt and the healing more often and on a smaller scale. And the Emergency Circus was born. They’ve traveled to hospitals, prisons, nursing homes and “other places where happiness, health and human connection struggle.”
“Anyone can spread joy, that’s easy,” Clay said. “The best way to get happiness is to give happiness.”
If the Emergency Circus is successful in raising enough funds to make enhancements to their Jambulance, they’ll begin touring the United States and even into Canada starting in April, visiting hospitals and nursing home, prisons and homeless shelters. But if they miss their monetary goal – even by a dollar – they won’t receive anything. That’s the “all or nothing” campaign they’ve embarked on.
“If we don’t make the goal, we can’t do anything,” Clay said. “You can donate as much or as little as you want and based on how much you give, there are incentives.”
Contributors to the Crowd Funding Campaign are offered prizes for their donations – personalized “super-hero theme song,” handmade juggling balls and even a chance to run away with the circus and perform with the Emergency Circus.
“We’ll sing about how amazing and how generous you are. Each song will be personalized,” he added.
The goal of the Emergency Circus is to “gather people in a room or go room to room to liven up spirits and destroy some boredom,” Clay said.
To donate to their cause, visit KickStarter.com. And for more information about Emergency Circus, visit EmergencyCircus.com. The Crowd Funding Campaign ends Dec. 7.
