It started with a joking tweet from a Los Angeles comedian to author Neil Gaiman about the Cheesecake Factory, and it ended with more than $100,000 being raised — thanks to a last-minute $10,000 gift made in the name of two “Mystery Science Theater 3000” characters — for the United Nations Refugee Agency. Last month, writer and comic Sara Benincasa issued a Twitter challenge to Gaiman, the bestselling author of “American Gods,” “Sandman” and “Coraline”: Would the golden-voiced Gaiman be willing to do a dramatic reading of the famously extensive Cheesecake Factory menu if fans raised $500,000 for charity? Gaiman was game:Benincasa started a fundraiser on the crowdfunding site Crowdrise, hoping to raise half a million dollars for the charity Gaiman chose, the UNHCR, the refugee agency of the United Nations. Her hope was to raise $500,000 by June 20, which is World Refugee Day. The campaign fell short of its $500,000 goal, but had still raised more than $111,000 as of Wednesday morning.

Source: Los Angeles Times June 21, 2017 18:33 UTC