Record breaking attendance at our third annual One Small Step Gala!
In only our third year, we welcomed over 650 guests who helped us raise over $60,000 for Prader-Willi Syndrome (PWS) research. We were honoured to have representatives from across Canada and the US, including Joanne Taylor and Cheryl Gagne from BCPWSA and Dr. Theresa Strong and Alice Viroslav from the FPWR. Our increase of almost 50% in fundraising along with the international attendance demonstrates the growing momentum behind uniting Canada to eliminate the challenges of Prader-Willi Syndrome.
The gala, held at the luxurious Terrace Banquet Centre in Vaughan, was both an emotional and entertaining evening. Highlights of the evening included:
Touching videos of people with PWS,
- Inspirational words from Alice Viroslav regarding her daughter’s challenges with PWS and successes in life,
- An overview by Dr. Theresa Strong of the future possibilities of PWS reseach,
- Cocktails, door prizes, Terrace’s exquisite dining, deluxe bar, live and silent auction, dancing,
- A raffle draw including a 42 inch LCD HD TV with DVD and Wii console, autographed hall of famer hockey stick, Blue Jay tickets, golf family pass for four (18 holes + cart), Toronto FC tickets, and most importantly;
- A $100,000 cheque presentation to FPWR to fund 2 additional PWS research projects.
One BIG Thank You – This event wouldn’t have been possible without the support of our guests and all of our generous corporate sponsors. Thank you for bringing your energy and enthusiasm to our event.
Our Gala committee and volunteers put together another top class event. They kindly donated their valuable time and expertise to take care of all the event details, which resulted in:
- Over $8,000 being raised through our raffle draws, and;
- Over $30,000 being raised through our silent and live auctions with items such as a TFC autographed soccer ball, private cooking lessons, framed limited edition art, jewelry, gift certificates and much more!.
On behalf of The Foundation for Prader-Willi Research Canada (FPWR Canada) and the One Small Step Gala Committee we thank you for being a part of our Third Annual One Small Step Gala and making it so successful.
We hope you save the date and join us again at Terrace Banquet Centre next year on Friday, May 14th, 2010 and celebrate our on-going commitment to Prader-Willi Research.