The Chris Farley Foundation

This was the official website of the Chris Farely Foundation until 2012 when Farley's brother, Tom Farley, announced in July 2012 via the Wisconsin State Journal that The Chris Farley Foundation would immediately cease operations.

The charity was founded in 1998 after former "Saturday Night Live" performer Chris Farley died of an overdose. The charity sought to reduce peer pressure and substance abuse through humor and improv. Tom Farley traveled to schools, delivering anywhere from a one-hour presentation to a day-long workshop. Farley told the Wisconsin State Journal that he was able to use his brother's stardom to produce a message that resonated with children. But with funding for the foundation declining because of tighter school budgets and fewer grants, he felt it was time to cease operations. The website has been reconstructed from the sites archived pages. The new owners believes that the mission of the The Chris Farley Foundation should remain visible on the web.

"Chris' death touched many people, but most don't realize that it also greatly impacted us. We took in Jona, Chris' collie, rather than surrender him to an animal shelter. But Jona was very much impacted by the loss of his best friend and master. He stopped eating and would only go outside with much coaxing. He chewed up his bedding and we finally had to buy him a new bed, which he rejected at first. Our vet suggested that we treat Jona like a child and comfort him at bedtime by lying beside him on his new cushiony round dog bed. This actually worked, and within a week, he was eating and more comfortable going outside with us. The round bed we purchased from Good Night Dog has been completely accepted, and it is now the only dog bed Jona will use. We know this because we forgot to bring it along when we visited our kids on Thanksgiving. But long story short, Chris' death caused us to bond with his pet and we love Jona as a member of our family, and we're sure Chris would approve." J&M Wilson

MISSION OF THE FOUNDATION

The Chris Farley Foundation is dedicated to the prevention of substance abuse. It focuses on communicating the consequences of drugs and alcohol abuse to kids, teens, and young adults.

Using Chris' humor as inspiration, we create communications that enable our audiences to develop personal skills to respond positively to pressures that impact choices regarding substance abuse

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THINK. LAUGH. LIVE.

The Brand

The Foundation seeks to establish the "Chris Farley" brand by raising initial awareness, and by creating measurable programs that reach a mass audience and deliver effective prevention messages.
The brand will initially seek to leverage the memory, work, and reputation of Chris Farley as it develops its own message of Think. Laugh. Live.
THINK 

...be clear about consequences, know you have a choice, and think enough of yourself to have confidence in your own worth
LAUGH 
...use humor as a source of strength and independence. 
LIVE 

...connect with the goodness of life, appreciate the world around you, and make decisions that respect your world and your life.

 

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CHRIS FARLEY BOOK

The Chris Farley Foundation has signed a contract to produce an autobiographical book on Chris. The book is expected to be completed in late 2006 and published in 2007. The book is being written by former National Lampoon writer Tanner Colby, author of the recently published (Rugged Land) biography on John Belushi (see right).

The Farley book will feature interviews and memories of people who knew him best; from childhood and school to Second City, SNL, and Hollywood

 

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WHAT WE DO

 

Extensive research during the past two decades has identified a number of prevention strategies that reduce drug use, even among those at high risk. These strategies share a common goal: they strengthen "protective factors" -- social skills, family bond, school, and community involvement ­ while reducing "risk factors" such as lack of parental guidance, school failure, and substance abuse in their environment. Research has also pointed out the importance of "resilience" among young people in who are able to resist drugs. 

Within this framework, The Chris Farley Foundation will work to:
 

• Disseminate developmentally appropriate information through the use of comedy.
• Teach children that using drugs is not the norm.
• Provide a clear, consistent social message that teen alcohol, tobacco, and other drug use is harmful and unacceptable
• Create appropriate approaches to dealing with the different cultural, gender and age needs. of the target audience
• Create a model for "outside of school" comedy-related programs and mentoring efforts.
• Promote participation in comedy-based programs.
• Help kids and young adults identify internal and external pressures, including peer pressure.
• Help kids develop personal, social, and refusal skills to resist these pressures.
• Strengthen "positive factors" such as personal and social skills.
• Address the social risk factors that lead kids and young adults to substance abuse.
• Address the factors necessary to enhance resilience and promote individual strengths.

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About Chris 
MEMORIES OF MY BROTHER

Memories of my brother by Tom Farley

The Farley family loved to laugh. We were a large, Irish family growing up in the Midwest who wanted to see humor in everything. Laughter to us was a tonic. It made the good times better and the bad times somewhat less so. Most of all, we really loved to just make each other laugh. And that, I think, was what made Chris so enjoyable to watch.

For Chris it wasn't enough to just "be" funny; he really wanted and needed to make you laugh and feel good. The sincerity with which he was able to do that was obvious, whether you saw him on stage, on screen, or up close in person. Chris' humor was right from the heart. He never scripted his jokes or worked on creating a better "act." He simply thought of something funny and went with it.

But what I remember best about Chris was how he loved to laugh. Some comedians need all the attention; they crave it. Not Chris. He would double up at the slightest of jokes, which I saw him do countless times; with friends and comedians alike. And when the joke was on him, Chris was hysterical. He loved it!

Throughout our years growing up, I could never understand how Chris was able to get himself in trouble with a teacher, a coach, or our parents, and still come away with them smiling and rolling their eyes. Now I just marvel at that skill. I sure hope my kids find that ability some day - what an gift!

Imagine Chris (the accused) standing before a teacher who is scolding him on some infraction. As she recites to him exactly what he had done to disrupt her class, the teacher (listening to her own words) begins to realize just how funny the stunt really had been. Better yet, the entire situation would be fully supported by an almost angelic look Chris could display, backed up by a genuine Catholic need for seeking forgiveness. He literally wanted everyone to see the humor in what he had done; even the person he knew would eventually have to discipline him for it.

Chris was always willing to make others happy. He was our little wind-up toy. When we wanted to be amused, we asked Chris to do something outrageous, and he delivered. This willingness to do anything had consequences. I imagine that deep down Chris had a very strong need to be accepted. Fairly typical of your average teenager. But a lifetime of being overweight made that acceptance all the more difficult in Chris' mind and probably caused a good deal of self-doubt in him. So, he did some things that his conscience and good reason told him would ultimately not be the best for him. Chris chose the immediate pleasure he got in pleasing others over the long-term cost to himself. When people around him started to drink and take drugs, Chris joined in. The ability to say no was just not there.

The role of the older brother is often one of setting the right example and being the model for others to follow. But I look back at some things my younger brother did and can only wish I could someday live up to his standard. Little is known or told of how, while a cast member of Saturday Night Live, Chris would attend Mass almost daily and often helped out in a local senior center connected to his church. He also loved to visit children's wards in hospitals. He was very serious about his faith and service to the community. The smile on the faces of those he helped was worth gold to Chris.

But for me the single most memorable moment in Chris' life was when he asked me to attend his third anniversary of sobriety at an AA meeting that he would be leading. The address he gave me was surprising at first. It was on the far west side of New York, in an area known as Hell's Kitchen. The building was dark and completely run down. Manhattan hosts many AA meetings each day, many in the ritzier parts of the city - Fifth Avenue, Park Avenue, Upper East Side. But Chris chose this meeting. It was where he met each week for three years. Upstairs, I found Chris at the head of the room conducting a meeting that was filled with what looked like refugees from the nearest homeless shelter. But here was Chris talking about the disease he shared with everyone in the room; a disease that made him no better or worse than each person present. That was so much like him. And I will never forget how they all looked at Chris with admiration and respect. Not because he was a famous actor but because, like them, he was battling a very powerful enemy. A battle that they all would fight each day for the rest of their lives. But that day, they had won their battles. And when Chris was finished, we all celebrated and had cake. Chris loved that day. So did I.

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About Chris 
MY FAVORITE PHOTO

While in college, Chris spent his summers as a counselor at a boys camp in northern Wisconsin.
Red Arrow Camp was where all the Farley boys went as kids. And we all worked there as counselors. Our father had also attended Red Arrow.

Always a great athlete, Chris thrived on the sports and competition at camp. He also enjoyed being around "the guys." It was at camp that Chris first developed his love for acting, while hamming it up for the annual camp plays.

Most of all though, Chris loved whipping the boys into a frenzy, and leading them off on some wild adventure. This photo is one of my very favorites of Chris -- hiking through the woods with the campers following close behind. It's also an image that I prefer to remember of Chris -- full of life and walking down the "right" path. Chris lived thirty three years. And for most of those years, that's exactly how he lived them.

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I was a big fan of Chris Farley starting way back when he was a member of Chicago's Second City Theatre around 1989/1990 as well as when he was a cast member of the NBC sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live between 1990 and 1995. And then there are all his movies.Just recently I was watching some old Chris Farley movies, Tommy Boy, Airheads, and Wayne's World 2. I was staying at a friend's place while my apartment which had been heavily damaged from a fire in my upstairs neighbor's apartment was being cleaned up and restored. When I first saw the damage to my precious Persian carpets I was paralyzed. Fortunately I my home insurance broker suggested that I call Sunlight Fine Rug Care, a company specializing in expert Persian carpet cleaning Manhattan. He said that they provided rapid, emergency services within an hour and their technicians were well trained and certified by the IICRC institute. I was frantic and knew that I needed professional help. So as you can imagine, it had been a frantic day dealing with my insurance company and then calling Sunlight to start the clean up. I really needed to relax. Thank goodness for the internet where you can find just about any movie your heart desires. Chris Farley and David Spade in "Tommy Boy" just hit the spot. It's definitely one of my favorite buddy comedies. I find it one of those movies that never loses its ability to be funny, no matter how many times you've seen it. Chris Farley delivered his finest performance here as the lovable goofball everyone wanted to see him as. He's just so genuinely nice and incredibly stupid at the same time. I think Tommy Boy is a classic and it certainly lifted my spirits after a very stressful day. We miss you Chris Farley.