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It’s been nearly four years since Joy Clancy lost her mother to Alzheimer’s disease. “It was devastating,” she says.
Despite the pain and sadness—amplified by an early- onset diagnosis at the age of 57—Clancy is finding a way to laugh it off. Co-founder of Devon’s Corle + Hand fashion-consulting agency, she connected with a group of 60 local women who’d all suffered losses to the neurodegenerative disease. Fellow Main Liner Margaret Anne Nolen took the helm, creating the MHB Foundation to support research for the disease. “We want to find a cure,” Clancy says, adding that they hope to raise $350,000 this year.
To grow awareness and funds, MHB is hosting #LOL for Alzheimer’s on Sept. 17. The inaugural comedy event, which the group would like to do annually, is at the Logan Hotel in Philadelphia. The event includes cocktails, dinner and an after-party with dancing. The highlight is a performance from John Mulaney of Saturday Night Live fame. “Having lived through this with my mother, sometimes you just need to laugh,” Clancy says. “When she would do funny things unintentionally, we just had to brush it off and come together as a family.”
