Grimm is in the middle of its fourth season and shows no sign of slowing down. In recognition of its success, the cast and NBC have joined together to help the OHSU Doernbecher Children’s Hospital, one of the nation’s best children’s hospitals, located in Portland, Oregon. In addition to a sold out “Grimm Gala,” being held on February 7th, Grimm is giving fans a chance to take home a piece of the show and help a good cause. On eBay, there is still over a day remaining to bid on unique items like Rosalie and Monroe’s cake topper. The proceeds from the online auction and gala will help fund the Grimmster Endowment.
To help spread the word about the Grimmster Endowment, Sasha Roiz talked with press about the charity and what the cast hopes to accomplish.
Check out the Grimmster auction before it ends at http://www.ebay.com/rpp/charityshop/NBC-GRIMM and tune in for Grimm on Fridays at 9/8c on NBC.
Sasha Roiz: I’ll just give you a quick background on the gala […], it’s to benefit an endowment that we began over here at Portland at the Children’s Hospital, called the Doernbecher and the endowment is called the Grimmster Fund and it’s to help benefit the families that need any financial assistant. About a year ago we started the fund and then for the past year have been working closely with Comcast and NBC, our production of Grimm, of course and Nike, have all come together to help put together this Gala for us which will be taking place February 7 in Portland. And we have amazing auction items, things from the set, props and costumes, as well as Nike pitched in and did an unbelievable one-time thing where they do a limited run of 50 Nike pairs of Grimm shoes, specifically designed for us. Some of them featuring the faces of the character on the shoe itself. Those will be available at auction at the event as well as 400 fleeces, special Grimm designed fleeces, all designed by T. Hatfield, a very impressive name in Nike design. So we’re very excited for this event and currently it’s sold out so it’s going to be a fantastic opportunity to help us benefit this fund. […]
This is a pretty incredible endeavor by the folks at Grimm. Have you experienced anything like this in your career?
Sasha Roiz: I hadn’t experienced it myself. Not to say that it hasn’t happened before, but I don’t know of it myself. This is just a really special experience we’re having and I think it probably reflects that. We are a show that celebrates the city that we film in, both on set and off set. We actually represent Portland and I don’t think it’s really been quite as represented before. And so we take pride in that and in turn the City takes great pride in the fact that they’re being represented and positively represented by us, aside from all the murderers and monsters and things like that. But I think they enjoy that we keep it weird as they say. This has become, and this is four years now [and] hopefully we’ll have a few more, and so it has become home for all of us. Everybody else in the cast, they all do their share and they participate in the community in different charities and nonprofits that move them and speak to them and it’s just been really just a symbiotic and natural evolution.
Can you tell us a little bit more about the Children’s Hospital and why you guys felt that they would be the best recipient for this Gala and for all the work that you guys are doing?
Sasha Roiz: They’re an incredible hospital, OHSU is one of the premiere hospitals in the country and especially in this region where people come from bordering states, from all over the place to just be, to be patients of this particular hospital because of its reputation. We came to realize very quickly in our visits that a lot of these families put their lives on hold and on top of all the difficulties and emotional trauma that they have to deal in regards to their children, they spend months, weeks, years sometimes, going back and forth trying to rehabilitate their kids. In addition to that they have to bear the burden not just emotionally but financially, it’s really, it can’t help but move you. And so I think we just felt a certain connection to that cause and the hospital and the staff are just tremendous and dedicated and it just spoke to us. You know, I’m sure it’s not the only charity, not the only hospital that certainly needs help, but we just kind of connected and were happy to be able to assist.
Can you talk a bit about Grimm’s connection with Portland and how it fits in with the community?
Sasha Roiz: [I]t’s an amazing community and just goes to show, I mean corporations as large as Comcast and NBC and Nike, who ostensibly seem likes these just giant companies that are impersonal are anything but. I mean, the people that I’ve met who have all come to assist us and who have gone beyond my expectations and have done so much in order to help put this together and help their own community. It’s really humbling and I’m so grateful for it. And it really is a testament to Portland and how strong a community it is here and how much they embraced us and so that’s really the motivation to give back. Because it’s been our home now for four years and it really does feel like home now and so we really want to be a part of the fabric here and they’ve been so gracious in helping us accomplish that.