Our 17th annual Gala of Hope was another successful fundraiser! This year’s event, presented by CIBC, attracted both international and local celebrities including Sophie Tweed-Simmons, KISS rocker Gene Simmons, Canadian actress Shannon Tweed, journalist Steve Darling, Mayor of Surrey Linda Hepner, and the list goes on.
“It’s wonderful to see how much people care about the children in their community. We’re so grateful for everyone who supports us. We have many loyal, long-time supporters but we also find ourselves with new friends each year and a Gala like ours wouldn’t be successful without all of them,” explains CEO of The Centre for Child Development, Gerard Bremault.
This year’s Gala of Hope raised a net amount of $312,000 which goes a long way to providing services for children with special needs. The Centre provides more than 30,000 services each year to approximately 2,700 children and as one can imagine, that takes money. While many of the programs are covered by government funding and grants, there are services that rely solely on the kindness of individuals in the community. Those programs include the Centre’s eating skills and equipment teams.
Sophie’s Place Child & Youth Advocacy Centre, a child-friendly space to report physical, mental or sexual abuse, is another example of a program at The Centre that requires private money to operate. According to Director, Judy Krawchuk, “We need $150,000 each year to run Sophie’s Place and having the Simmons Family at our Gala of Hope goes a long way to providing 1 year of service for this much needed resource. We’re so grateful for Gene’s offer to donate $100,000 to Sophie’s Place and it was really something to see the excitement grow as he auctioned off a rare axe guitar!”
A huge thank you to all that attended this year’s Gala. Please check out all the pictures on Facebook! We’d like to give a special ‘shout out’ to the following supporters for their generous contributions:
- Presenting Sponsor CIBC
- Platinum Sponsor Gulshan & Pyarali Nanji Family Foundation
- Gold Sponsors:
- Silver Sponsors:
- Bronze Sponsors:
- Table of Hope Sponsors:
- Friends of The Centre:
- Copytek Sign & Print Centre
- Greenscape Design and Décor
- Hollis Wealth – Jas Sahl and Noah Belcher
- Rochells Jewellers
- TDK Metro Terminals
- Wine Cellar Depot
- The Wishing Star
We would also like to thank Alnor Contracting, All Span Engineering, John D Good, Dawson & Sawyer and Heather Stewart.
How can you help? Donate today to help children with special needs reach their potential!