CARROLL GARDENS: Do the write thing: Oscars watching party gives to literary charity

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By Natalie Musumeci

Brooklyn Daily

Forget winners and losers — everyone knows the Oscars is really about doing good old-fashioned charity work and saying thanks to the “little people.”

So make like Brangelina and do your part at an upcoming Carroll Gardens-based Oscars party, where all the proceeds will go to Girls Write Now, a group of professional women scribes that mentor underprivileged high school girls who are passionate about writing.

“It’s a chance for people to be out in their local community and watch something that they would probably be watching at home anyway while raising money for a great organization,” said Nancy Mercado, a Girls Write Now mentor who along with Elaine Stuart-Shah will host the viewing party of the 85th annual Academy Awards at the historic Court Street sports bar and restaurant P.J. Hanley’s on “Oscar Sunday,” Feb. 24. “It’s a really fun and festive event.”

A $25 ticket will land attendees a free drink, an assortment of finger food appetizers, the opportunity to watch host Seth MacFarlane on multiple television screens, and the chance to win an array of raffle prizes donated from local businesses including Buttermilk Channel, Area Yoga, and Momofuku Milk Bar. Two tickets to Jon Stewart’s “The Daily Show,” and Katie Couric’s talk show will also be raffled off.

Attendees can also cast their vote for their favorite motion pictures.

“By the end of the night whoever has the most correct Oscar picks wins a prize,” said Mercado.

Organizers say it’s also a great occasion for locals to mingle with the dozens of educators, journalists, novelists, poets, and editors who volunteer at Girls Write Now and learn about how they mentor high schoolers one-on-one throughout the organization’s rigorous, year-long creative writing program chock full of genre-based workshops.

“It’s really about empowering these girls and showing them that they have a voice and that their voice matters and that they have these stories that are worth telling,” said Stuart-Shah, a freelance writer whose articles have appeared in the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal. “This is one of the most meaningful things that I’ve done — it’s such an incredible organization to be a part of.”

Girls Write Now’s Oscar Party at P.J. Hanley’s [449 Court St. at Fourth Place in Carroll Gardens, (718) 834–8223, www.oscars2013gwn.eventbrite.com]. Feb. 24, 7–11 pm, $25 online, $30 door.

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