NEW YORK- Recently, Long Island based Actor, activist and fitness guru Lancelot Theobald Jr. completed 10,000 push-ups in a successful effort to raise more than $10,000 for the Equal Justice Initiative, as part of his “Push Up For Your Life” campaign.
This time, Lancelot will be upping the ante as he builds on his initial 10,000 push ups to reach the new goal of 75,000 push-ups!
Watch as he completes the last 2,500 push-ups in a LIVE feed (via the Push Up For Your Life Facebook page) during the week of May 21-May 30th - culminating on Monday May 31st, 2021 with Lancelot’s 75,000 push-up in an effort to secure up to $75,000 for The Bethany House in their fight against Homelessness.
Why May 31st? That’s the same day last year that Lancelot finished his first 10,000 push-ups, and it is also his birthday! But more importantly, it’s the day Lancelot took back control of his life amidst this pandemic.
From now until then, Lancelot will continue to do all the required push-ups, pull ups and sit ups to reach the 72,500 mark and will document everything in a ledger - as he has done throughout the campaign.
Can he reach $75,000 for the 75,000 push ups? You could help!
Lancelot is encouraging others to join with the campaign by doing their own push-ups at home to help raise their own money and further increase awareness about the plight of the homeless and the important work being done at Bethany House to solve it. The “event” will be online, so you don’t have to leave your house. You’ll be able to send a video of yourself doing push ups that will be uploaded to the Push up For Your Life Facebook Page and there will be a GoFundMe: Push For Your Life page where everyone will be able to donate.
Lancelot is a Board member and the Vice Chair of the Planning And Development Committee at the Bethany House. He first became involved with the organization through a show he choreographed/Directed and Produced called Hip Hop Fusion, in which Lancelot raised and donated over 10,000 dollars from the proceeds of the show to company over 10 years ago.
Lancelot remarked, “the damage this pandemic has done to so many of the people around this world has been immense. I want to use this initiative to help show people there are some ways you can still take control of your life and help others when things around you are not in your control”.
Read about Push Up for Life on their Facebook page here:
https://www.facebook.com/PushUpLancelot
Read a past article on the initiative:
https://www.liherald.com/stories/push-ups-for-charity,128050
Having moved to Long Island from Brooklyn at seventeen, sports and arts were important to Lancelot. Though he thought of himself as a football player, his passion for dance, choreography and acting never strayed far behind. But his dedication to the sport would nearly cost him his life: on a recruitment trip to the University of Maine his Senior Year of High School, the small plane in which he was traveling crashed in Rhode Island killing another passenger on board. A car crash and near-drowning incident followed later that same year, as well as an accident on a New York City F train. But through it all Lancelot persevered and would go on to play for U-Maine on a full scholarship.
Continuing to use his overall athletic prowess- coupled with his dance, theatre and choreography background, Lancelot co-founded Mozell Entertainment Group with Richard Willis Jr. after the two had met on the streets of NYC over two decades ago. He has said of the meeting- “I was looking to find something that excited me and gave me the passion to get up in the morning like football did and I felt this might have been a sign from God”. After finding out Willis was producing a play and needed an assistant, he says “I was open enough to try something new and experience something different and decided to go for it. I would learn lighting and staging and watch the rehearsal process and it was all so new and intriguing for me. My role became more significant as I started being responsible for getting fundraiser events together to help raise money for this group”. As he began taking on more and more responsibility, Mozell Entertainment was born.
Realizing he wanted to be in front of the camera as well, Lancelot would go on to the Bernice Johnson Dance School on yet another full scholarship while studying acting with Willis privately and later Second City Improv and The Ted Bardy Acting Studio in New York.
He also started Momz-N-Da Hood which has grown in impact and popularity, the only and first dancing group with women who didn't learn to dance until they were in their 50’s and 60’s. The ladies have performed at MSG, on TV and in many music videos. They even had a movie made about them! Showing yet another positive contribution Lancelot has made towards American pop culture, bridging the gap between young and old.
