Star Wars Fans Raise Money for Local Charities as Part of Saber Guild Corellia

January 26, 2017 newjerseyisntboring

As a Star Wars enthusiast, I was very excited to learn about Saber Guild Corellia, a non-profit organization which is a Lucas Film-recognized Star Wars costuming group specializing in choreographed lightsaber shows.

The Saber Guild Coreilla is based out of Rahway, New Jersey (Union County) where they have partnered with Union County Performing Arts Center and the Hamilton Stage which supports their shows and brings them to the various town festivals throughout the year.

If you’re unfamiliar with Saber Guild, they started in 2006 with half a dozen people in California, members of established costuming organizations and unofficial lightsaber choreography groups coming together to have fun, serve the community and represent the Star Wars brand in a way that had never been done before. Now they have over 300 members in 18 temples and five countries and are the largest recognized lightsaber club in the world.

Adrienne Procaccini and her husband Matthew got involved with Saber Guild after seeing them perform at San Diego Comic Con. Adrienne has been a lifelong Star Wars Fan, who also has a background in dance and performing. After being impressed with the organization, they reached out to them to see if they’d be open to having a temple in New York. She felt it was a perfect fit so she could combine her love of entertaining with her love of Star Wars.

They ran the New York temple, Empire Temple, for two years before Adrienne’s job transferred to Seattle. In Seattle, they started Jet City Temple, and headed that temple for another two years.

The couple decided they wanted to buy a home and raise a family, so they came to New Jersey and founded the Corellia Temple. They chose Rahway since it proved to be a natural fit for their group with it’s multiple performance spaces and a thriving arts community. They also like that the town is accessible through public transportation and from other parts of New Jersey.

When they came to the Garden State they hit the ground running. They were fortunate enough to have friends in New Jersey already, and had researched possible rehearsal spaces in advance. They had their first rehearsal only two days after arriving from Seattle, and had a great turnout. Since then they’ve averaging about 15 people per class.

Adrienne Procaccini says, “Star Wars has the unique ability to bring together people of all backgrounds and ages. It offers a large universe ripe for imagination. The fan community is also phenomenal, raising hundreds of thousands of dollars for charity every year. Saber Guild allows fans to step right into that world, creating their own characters and acting out their own battles. And at the end of the day, having a child call you a Jedi, seeing their face light up when they recognize their favorite character, brightening someone’s day for a few minutes–that’s what makes what we do worth it.”

Since they began they’ve contributed to Make-A-Wish, The Ronald McDonald House, Seattle Children’s Hospital, St. Mary’s Children’s Hospital, Toys for Tots, the American Cancer Society, and many other local and national charities. In 2016, they directly raised over $30,000 for charities as an international organization.

Anyone 18 years old and above (or 13-17 with a parent or guardian) is welcome to get involved with Saber Guild Coreilla, no experience necessary! The first step is to come to any of their open rehearsals, on Tuesday nights in Rahway (they often have loaner lightsabers for first timers). If you enjoy yourself, they encourage you to become an official member.