Dena Blizzard goes viral with back-to-school video

Those back-to-school supply lists can be pretty daunting, especially for parents of more than one kid, what with all those "blue, three-ring, two pocket, double-punch binders'' and such.

Plenty of parents can be found wandering like zombies with beach tans, up and down the rows of Target and Wal-Mart, trying to decide between the 10-packs and 20-packs of Sharpies and the 50 sizes of Post-Its.

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And yes, many of us have had the experience of sending in the econo-sized jug of hand sanitizer requested, only to have it come back to us like a sticky boomerang from the depths of a backpack come June.

Nonetheless, at least one South Jersey mom thinks it's time to quit complaining about all those back-to-school supply list requests -- to shut up and pony up, already.

"One Funny Mother'' Dena Blizzard, the former Miss New Jersey-turned-actress and comedian, says in a new video that's gone viral, that some glue sticks and a yellow binder or two are small prices to pay for someone willing to take your kids off your hands for the next 9.5 months.

In the video, Blizzard, who has three children in eighth grade and high school, piles items into her cart while making a convincing argument for getting the adults who help shape their minds in school, well, not just folders and pencils, but pretty much anything they want.

Sure, that $78 in Staples supplies may seem like a lot, but Blizzard contends these teachers deserve a microwave, a new carpet — heck, even a full set of luggage -- if that what it takes to get the kids out of the house by the end of August.

“It is the end of August. I will do ANYTHING to get you take my kids,” Blizzard says as she pushes her cart through the Target aisles. “You take these kids outta my house, I will get you whatever you want. You know what? I am going to fill up my cart with stuff that isn’t even on that list.”

Blizzard's video has attracted the attention of media outlets from HuffPo to USA TODAY to ABC News, scoring millions of page views in just days. 

Blizzard, who is a South Jersey girl at heart, is busy launching her new board game, ChardonnayGo!, which grew out of an earlier viral video. She also tours with her one-woman show, "One Crazy Mother,'' which enjoyed a successful off-Broadway run, and she hosts popular weekly shows on her Facebook page.

Long a partner of the Courier-Post's community efforts, Blizzard starred in April in a "Salute.Laugh.Give'' event which raised more than $6,000 for Operation Yellow Ribbon of South Jersey.

One Sept. 14, she will be part of our BYO-Bra event to collect new bras (tags attached) and raise money for Distributing Dignity, a South Jersey-based charity that helps support women in need.

Guests will have a chance to play ChardonnayGo! at the event.

IF YOU GO 

BYO-BRA* Party
6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Thursday Sept. 14
Perkins Center for the Arts, 30 Irvin Ave., Collingswood. 

Bar-inspired art by Perkins artists; craft beer from Forgotten Boardwalk, Devil’s Creek and Lower Forge; food from Cathedral Kitchen with Our Yards Farm, Square Meal, The Treehouse Coffeeshop & Café and Grooveground; music by DJ Janitor Jake; ChardonnayGo! with Dena Blizzard; storytelling by Queen Nur; learn about Beer for Babes and the Tyanna Foundation’s Breastfest.

Admission: $5 plus one *NEW bra (with tags attached). All sizes are needed and used bras are not acceptable. Distributing Dignity, a South Jersey-based non-profit that collects and distributes *NEW bras to women in need in partnership with other 
organizations. 
Event is 21 and up. No outside alcohol permitted.
Reservations: http://perkinsarts.org/event/distributing-dignity/

Hosted by Perkins and the Courier-Post. 

Co-chaired by Gov. Jim McGreevey, who works to help the formerly incarcerated, and Camden County Freeholder Carmen Rodriguez.
Help us string new bras for South Jersey women in need from one end of the Perkins art gallery to the other!