The Maggie Martin Foundation is hosting a charity fundraiser on Sunday, Nov 16 from 5-8 p.m. in honor of Maggie Martin’s birthday. It will be at Bunratty Tavern, 620 Main St., Reading, which — according to foundation co-founder and Maggie’s father Peter Martin — was one of her favorite spots to go out with family.
The fundraiser will feature raffles for items including theater tickets, gift cards, and a virtual reality headset. There will also be a silent auction of packages including Bruins tickets as well as tickets to Huntington Theatre Company and to “The Sound of Music” in Boston. According to Peter there is also one additional mystery item — valued at around $2,000 — which will be announced ahead of the fundraiser.
In addition to donating time and space to hold the fundraiser, Bunratty’s will donate a portion of food and drink sales during the event to the foundation. All raffle and auction items were also graciously donated.
Maggie Martin was a young theater lover who worked at North Shore Music Theatre after earning a degree in Theatrical Arts at Gordon College. When she wasn’t working at NSMT, she was involved with the small performing arts group “Neverland: Next Chapter.”
She passed of advanced pancreatic cancer in May of 2024. According to her father, she loved get togethers and could never get enough of the stage.
After the fundraiser, the 6-month-old foundation hopes it will be able to complete its next major initiative: to co-sponsor a trip with Make-a-Wish Massachusetts and Rhode Island. The foundation hopes to help a struggling child visit Disney World in Maggie Martin’s honor. Peter Martin noted that his daughter was a “Disney Fanatic.”
They will also use any funds raised to continue their other works, such as supporting local independent theater groups and providing scholarships to matriculating theater kids. In the last six months, the foundation provided its first scholarships and was able to purchase wireless microphones for “Neverland: Next Chapter.”
Peter Martin said this fundraiser — and the foundation as a whole — is “one way to share Maggie’s ‘glass half full’ attitude.”
He said, “One of Maggie’s favorite things to do was to get together… It will be very positive, a celebration of Maggie. (Get togethers are) what she enjoyed, and we’re trying to be like her.”
