ter Spells Relief!
nal B'rith Women will help
children heal with humor.
RUTH LITTMANN STAFF WRITER
ila Green thinks people
should get serious about hu-
mor, just for the "health of it."
Local members of B'nai
B'rith Women agree. In late
January, they will take to the
pediatric ward of St. Joseph
Mercy Hospital in Pontiac
with a "Humor Cart."
The Humor Cart is full of
gags, gifts, a VCR
and tape recorder to
help children giggle
their way to health.
Medication consists of clown
noses, funny books like My
Teacher Fried My Brains, over-
sized frog glasses and frizzy
rainbow wigs.
Trained volunteers — some
in costume — administer a
Laughter Rx via goofy tricks
and wacky antics.
"There are so many ways to
generate humor," said Ms.
Green, a program consultant
to the University of Michigan
Institute of Gerontology and
founding member of the Amer-
ican Association for Thera-
peutic Humor.
BBW invited Ms. Green to
speak at a kick-off meeting last
week at the Summit Apart-
ments Clubhouse in Farming-
ton Hills. Ms. Green, whose
book, Making Sense Of Humor,
will be released April 1, ad-
vised prospective Humor Cart
volunteers to "take your roles
seriously, but take yourself
lightly."
The Humor Cart is sched-
uled to roll at St. Joseph after
a Jan. 19 training seminar.
BBW hopes to start another
one at Henry Ford Hospital
in Detroit. Members had
initially thought of operating
a cart at Sinai, but the hospi-
tal does not have a pediatric
ward.
The idea for a local Humor
Cart originated two years ago
at the B'nai B'rith Women's
biennial conference. It was
adopted as one of the organi-
zation's projects. Detroiters
Lucy Gerston and Anna
Lee Firman, who attended the
conference, brought the idea
home.
Suzanne Lipshaw, who
chairs the local Humor Cart
program, credits the Knight
Foundation — part of the Com-
munity Foundation of South-
eastern Michigan — for
funding it.
The idea for a
local Humor
Cart originated
two years ago
at the
B'nai B'rith
Women's
biennial
conference.
Gerston.
Lisa Redmond, Robin Lash, Sherry Kanter, Jan Schaefer and Lucy
Left to right: Suzanne Lipshaw,
Though the Humor Cart is
designed for children, adults
benefit from frequent guffaws
and good cheer, too.
"Smile," Ms. Green told the
crowd. "It adds face value...Re-
member, time flies whether
you're having fun or not. And
life is too important to be tak-
en seriously." ❑