CHILD’S PLAY: Yours truly had the honour of conducting the Boys and Girls Clubs of South Coast B.C.’s annual Clubhouse Gala at Hotel Vancouver. Always an entertaining affair when you have the likes of comedian Steve Patterson and CTV sports anchor Perry Solkowski at the helm, this year’s charity dinner, sponsored by Scotiabank, attracted 300 supporters. There were tears of laughter from Patterson’s shtick, and tears of hope from the inspired stories of the organization’s amazing kids shared by CEO Carolyn Tuckwell. By evening’s end, hearts were full and wallets were emptied. The net result was a record $170,000 compared to $150,000 last year. The donations will support a dozen neighbourhood clubs around Metro Vancouver.
BABY BOOM: More than 7,000 babies are born each year at B.C. Women’s Hospital, most of them coming into the world healthy and happy. However, the health centre is the provincial referral hub for some 1,400 of the tiniest and sickest newborns yearly. To support Canada’s foremost critical care facility for babies, the hospital foundation fronted its maiden gala, GLOW. And what a sparkling debut! Chaired by Jill Schnarr and Michelle Rupp, the fundraising dinner staged at the Pan Pacific Hotel’s Crystal Ballroom generated a sparkling $1.2 million, outpacing the half million the hospital hoped to bring in. Proceeds will go towards the purchase of more life-saving equipment such as Infant Transport Incubators for B.C. Women’s Newborn Intensive Care Unit.
PADDLING FOR CHARITY: Internet entrepreneur Roger Hardy of Shoes.com and CHIMP brought the tech industry together once again for the sophomore edition of TechPong, which was held at the Imperial Lounge. Companies that raised a minimum $1,000 paddled it out for charity, generating $72,000 for the Syrian refugee crisis. Some of the city’s most recognized businesses in the tech sector such as Hootsuite, BuildDirect, Vision Critical, Unbounce and Mobify participated in the fun and games. But the ultimate winners were the charities that provide emergency relief overseas or those that help refugees resettle in Canada.
