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When tragedy struck the family of Miami Palmetto High School senior Marlee Golinsky she and the family did not allow the sorrow to swallow them. Instead, they created the Golinsky Comedy Club to raise money for Traumatic Brain Injury research.
“My mom, my dad and my dog were walking in my neighborhood when a car struck my father,” Golinsky says.
Because of the accident, her dad was in the hospital for 11 months with a traumatic brain injury before he passed.
Last year, Golinsky took over the event when her brother Evan went off to college.
“I’ve been working on it since I went into high school,” she says. “I hosted it for the first time without him.”
Golinsky is one of the hosts for the Comedy Club. They hire comedians for the show and they got cameos from a variety of well-known comedians including Gilbert Gottfried, Raven Symone, Justin Long, and Paton Oswald.
The upcoming Comedy Club will be the fifth annual event.
“In the past, the first three years, all the proceeds went to the brain trauma foundation,” she says. “This past year, a portion went to Achieve Miami.”
The money raised for Achieve Miami went into $5,000 scholarships. Golinsky is also a volunteer for Achieve Miami.
She raised $20,000 for the Brain Trauma Foundation this past year.
The show has been hosted at Temple Beth Am and has its own website.
The money raised goes towards developing treatment for those with traumatic brain injury.
“It is so meaningful to have an impact on the recovery of others and memorialize my dad,” she says.
At this point, Golinsky is well into the planning for the next Comedy Club, which will take place in December.
At school, Golinsky is secretary of the Spanish National Honor Society, the vice president of the Jewish Student Union, and the Community Outreach Chair for the Student Senate.
“We plan the Thanksgiving drive and introduce service opportunities,” she says.
Outside of school, Golinsky is in the Social Justice Teen Fellowship at Temple Beth Am. The teens met online much of last school year, but they were able to participate in a project in the Green Haven Project, a community garden in Overtown. They planted vegetables including cabbage and carrots that could be eaten by members of the community.
Golinsky says Overtown is considered a food desert. With this garden, anyone can go in and take food if they need it or plant for others.
Her sophomore year, Golinsky went to Washington and learned about different social justice issues. The teens picked topics and wrote legislation.
“Mine was gun control,” she says.
Other topics included the environment.
Her favorite was in her sophomore year, the trip where she went to Washington.
“You pick an issue and you work in a group,” she says. “You get to go to Capitol Hill.”
Her group met with a representative from Marco Rubio’s office.
“I loved being able to voice my opinion,” Golinsky says. “We also got to speak with Donna Shalala.”
Golinsky has been in BBYO since eighth grade. She held the position of vice president of Jewish Enrichment. Her role was to bring together Jewish people in the community.
She also writes letters as a pen pal to seniors who live in retirement and nursing homes.
“I have one pen pal I write through email. I reach out to elderly residents in my community,” she says, adding that COVD made it difficult for people to visit them.
For college, Golinsky is applying to Duke, Vanderbilt, Michigan, and USC. She’s considering majoring in business or communications.
Linda Rodriguez Bernfeld
