All About You Productions hosted the 3rd annual Wish Upon a Star: An Evening of Hope Charity Gala on June 19 from 6-10pm at J Lounge (formerly Jupiter Lounge). The event hoped to raise over $10,000 towards oral research and care at the BC Cancer Foundation and BC Cancer Agency.

Attendees who attended enjoyed cocktails while bidding on the silent auction, a programme including speeches from Robin Dhir, Robin Gill and Kash Heed as well as plenty of opportunities to raise money in the live auction. In the end, the event raised over $78,000 and for a first-time gala event being held for the South Asian community, it was a huge success.

Catch the release and see more photos, after the jump.

More photos:

The post-event release:

A Night of Miracles Gala Raises $78,606!

BC’s South Asian community once again demonstrates it’s dedication to child health by beating a lofty goal of $65,000 for the inaugural A Night of Miracles Gala and raising $78,606 for BC Children’s Hospital.

The event, which took place Saturday, October 24, 2009 at the Vancouver Marriott Pinnacle Downtown Hotel, was attended by members of BC’s South Asian community dressed to the nines in black-tie and gala dresses.

Emcee, Robin Gill of Global BC took special care to acknowledging the community’s tremendous generosity and giving history to Children’s Hospital through their annual telethon and other community events. Over the past decade, the South Asian community has raised more than $2.5 million in support of child health, helping to fund programs, training and equipment purchases at BC Children’s Hospital, Sunny Hill Health Centre for Children and the Child & Family Research Institute.

Inspired by this trend of excellence, long-time volunteers identified a new opportunity to engage BC’s South Asian community. A Night of Miracles is anticipated to attract more than 300 influential community and business leaders. With support from key members in the community and corporate sponsors, the event and BC’s South Asian community are poised to make miracles happen for BC’s kids.

A Night of Miracles fundraising is supporting the purchase of a new ECMO Machine.

If you lie still in a quiet room you quickly become aware of two things: the steady rise and fall of your chest with each breath, and the gentle, rhythmic beating of your heart. We take these motions for granted. Yet, should either cease, so too does life.

At BC Children’s Hospital, the province’s only full-service pediatric acute-care hospital, a single piece of equipment with a complex name performs the vital role of sustaining life when the heart or lungs would otherwise fail. The Extra Corporeal Membrane Oxygenation machine referred to at the hospital as ECMO, is often the only thing that stands between life and death for infants and children experiencing cardio-respiratory failure.

Four-year-old Aamir
This serious condition claims many lives each year. The ECMO machine, however, can act as a child’s heart and lungs for several weeks while those vital organs recover. Simply put, ECMO saves lives.

Four-year-old Aamir remembers nothing of the 11 days he spent on the ECMO machine as he recovered from lifesaving cardiac surgery when he was just a few months old. His parents, on the other hand, will never forget the role BC Children’s Hospital, its staff and even this complex piece of machinery played in allowing their son to become the healthy child he is today.

For more information about A Night of Miracles, please contact:
Aaron Sanderson
Philanthropy Coordinator
BC Children’s Hospital Foundation
P: 604-875-2511

On Thursday, September 24th, the pair hosted a fundraiser to assist sending Canada’s Team to the 19th edition of the Commonwealth Games which will take place in Delhi, India from October 3rd to 14th, 2010.

You can find out more about this event by reading the original release, after the jump.

The original release:

Vancouver Fundraiser to Support 2010 Commonwealth Games Athletes

VANCOUVER – September 21, 2009 – On Thursday, September 24, 2009, Commonwealth Games Canada (CGC) will join Avtar Bains, Monika Deol, Global Television sportscaster Squire Barnes and some of Canada’s top athletes to fundraise for Canada’s Commonwealth Games team headed to Delhi, India to compete in the XIX Commonwealth Games from October 3 to 14, 2010.

CGC’s national “Dream it in Delhi” fundraising campaign was launched in 2007 with a goal of raising $3.5 million to help off-set the costs of sending Canada’s contingent to Delhi. CGC estimates that it will cost $10,000 per athlete (expenses include travel and accommodation, medical services, team uniform and media operations) and are asking individuals, organizations and corporations to help support the team through the ‘adoption’ of athletes headed to the 2010 Commonwealth Games. Donors receive a tax receipt plus additional benefits and acknowledgements.

“The 2010 Delhi Commonwealth Games is a tremendous opportunity to strengthen the Canada-India relationship through sport,” said George Heller, President of the Commonwealth Games Foundation of Canada. “Avtar, Monika and their committee of volunteers have done a fantastic job with this event, and we are so thankful to the Vancouver business community for its support of the athletes who will represent Canada on the international stage in India in October 2010.”

Members of the media are invited to attend the 2010 Delhi Commonwealth Games Fundraising Celebration to meet athletes and learn more about Commonwealth Games Canada’s plans to help Canada’s top summer athletes excel on the world stage, following the anticipated success of Canada’s top winter athletes at the Olympic and Paralympic Games in Vancouver.

Where:             Shangri-La Hotel, 1128 West Georgia Street, 6th floor (Vancouver)
When:              Thursday, September 24, 2009, 6:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.
What:               The evening reception will feature a live Dhol and Bhangra performance, followed by welcoming comments, athlete introductions, and keynote speech by Charmaine Crooks. Refreshments will be served.
Who:                Athletes confirmed include:

• Charmaine Crooks, Commonwealth Games gold medallist and five-time Olympian (athletics)
• Annamay Pierse, Olympic swimmer, world championship silver medallist and candidate for Canada’s 2010 Commonwealth Games team
• Jasvir Singh, Olympic weightlifter and candidate for Canada’s 2010 Commonwealth Games team
• Anna Rice, Commonwealth Games and Olympic badminton player, Canadian National Champion
• Ranjeev Deol, Commonwealth Games and Olympic field hockey player
• Bobby Milroy, Commonwealth Games badminton player and former President of the World Badminton Players Federation
• Suzanne Weckend, Commonwealth Games athlete (swimming) and retired triathlete, member of CGC’s board of directors and High Performance Advisory Committee
• Zach Bell, Commonwealth Games and Olympic track cyclist, potential member of Canada’s 2010 Commonwealth Games team
• Wayne Fernandes, Commonwealth Games and Olympic field hockey player
• Arjan Bhullar, Pan American Games Junior champion wrestler, two-time National Junior champion and potential member of Canada’s 2010 Commonwealth Games team.

All athletes will be available for media interviews and photographs throughout the evening.

About Commonwealth Games Canada

Commonwealth Games Canada (CGC) is the international franchise holder for the Commonwealth Games and Commonwealth movement in Canada, and an active, contributing member of the Canadian sport community. The mission of Commonwealth Games Canada is to strengthen sport within Canada and throughout the Commonwealth, by participating in the Commonwealth Games and by using sport as a development tool.

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For further information, please contact:

Thomas Jones, CEO
Commonwealth Games Association of Canada
613-244-6868
www.commonwealthgames.ca

Sandra O’Connell, Member – Event Organizing Committee
604-681-4111

The event, a fundraiser for the Aboriginal Mother Centre Society, featured a JC fashion showcase, shopping, food catered by Nu Restaurant and more. Find out more about JC Studio on their website, HERE.

Registration is $35 in advance, $50 at the door. You can register for this event through our secure online registration system, HERE.

PS – if you’re a fan of bottle service, get in touch with us and reserve your seat in the affinity auto VIP lounge.

Location: TRUNK Gallery, 1755 West 3rd Avenue, Vancouver
Doors Open: 6:30PM – 10:30PM
Dress: Semi-formal
Cost: $35 in advance, $50 at the door
Early bird rate of $25 until November 17th

Got Facebook? Join our Facebook group HERE.

$35 in advance. Net proceeds to imagine1day.

Click HERE to register online securely.

This unmissable event features the art of Stirling Ward, David Ellingsen and Heidi Conrod with net proceeds going to imagine1day, a groundbreaking charity created by Lululemon founder, Chip Wilson and his wife, Shannon.

Imagine1day provides an opportunity for donors to be directly connected to projects that provide primary education for all children in Ethiopia.  Every dollar donated goes directly to the project of your choice and all administration costs are covered by the founders.

Come join Vancouver’s most sensuous crowd for a night of cocktails and the finest Canadian art alongside luxurious European automobiles.

What: Urban Mixer Gallery Series III
Where: TRUNK gallery at auto/ONE and affinity auto, 1755 West 3rd Avenue, Vancouver
When: WEDNESDAY, November 26th, 2008
Doors Open: 6:30PM – 10:30PM
Dress: Semi-formal

Urban Mixer is the Cure for the Common Social Life, the stylish source for Vancouver’s most comprehensive events calendar, coverage of the must-do events in town and the hottest social soirées in the city.

We confidently expect this event to be completely subscribed very shortly, so to ensure you place on the guest list, please RSVP today.

Tickets are $25 with net proceeds going to imagine1day – providing complete quality primary education to all children in Ethiopia by 2020. Click HERE to register online securely.

The Vancouver Friends For Life Society works with individuals living with life-threatening illnesses, helping them to take an active role in their holistic wellness journey in order to move through pain, anxiety, vulnerability, fear, and social isolation. At Friends For Life, we recognize that with compassion, support and knowledge, the experience of illness can be a catalyst for positive personal transformation.

To find out more about the main event, check out our their website, HERE.

The ‘Red and White and All that Sparkles’ themed event featured a vast assortment of spectacular red, white and sparkling wines and plenty of fabulous food from participating restaurant sponsors to accompany. Read more after the jump to find out more about BC Adoptive Families Association of BC and Wine on the Mountain.The original release:

Third Annual Wine on The Mountain Promises Dizzying Heights of Food and Wine!

October 30, 2008 – The Adoptive Families Association of BC’s (AFABC) third annual Wine on the Mountain event is taking place this Saturday, November 1st, 2008.  Hosts Nat Hunger and Drew Savage of 95 Crave will be raising a glass to support adoption and kick off Adoption Awareness Month atop Grouse Mountain at Lupins Restaurant.

The event supports the AFABC’s commitment to finding a family for every one of BC’s 1307 children who are waiting for families.. Savage, an adoptee himself, holds a special place for this worthy cause.

“We support a number of different organizations across the Lower Mainland, but this event is very personal to me.  To have a loving family select YOU to join their family…to have them love, support, teach and nurture you as their very own, is the biggest lottery prize you can win.  I won it when my parents adopted me…and for that, I’m eternally grateful.” says Savage.

Adoption touches one in five people and Wine on the Mountain is an event dedicated to spreading awareness about, and lending a hand to the children, babies and teens, who need families.

“One child without a family is one child too many,” says event host and 95 Crave DJ Nat Hunter.  “I am thrilled to be taking part in an event that spotlights the need for adoptive families in British Columbia.”

Along with fine food, superb wines and great music, AFABC’s wine event will also have BC’s very own wine expert, John Schreiner, on hand to instruct you in the delicate art of swirl, swig, spit.

“What’s great about this event is that it brings wine connoisseurs of all types together, from beginners to the most discerning tasters. It’s really an event for everyone—everyone who enjoys wine and supporting a great cause,” says Treena Innes, Development Director for AFABC

If that’s not enough to tempt you to the top of the mountain, there will be a silent and live auction, a people’s choice award for best wine, live music, hors d’oeuvres, Okanagan Wine Adventure Trip Raffle, the back by popular demand “wall of wine”, and of course, plenty of food and spirits.

A limited amount of tickets for this annual sold out event are now available for purchase online at www.afabc.eventbrite.com.

For information about how to become involved in sponsoring AFABC’s Wine On The Mountain or for information about other Adoption Awareness Month events happening near you, check out www.bcadoption.com.

For additional information, please contact:
Rachel Timmins
Communications Coordinator
Adoptive Families Association of BC
604-320-7330, ext. 150
rtimmins@bcadoption.com

The evening included a fusion of cuisine, art, entertainment and culture featuring the Calgary Italian Folk Dancers, Shimmy with Suzy Belly Dancing, Ballroom & Country Dance Studio, Club Tango Argentino, Dance Canada Productions, minerva, Savanna-Rose, The Matt Blai Connection, Aqy Baba, Stephen Strain and Brian Sharp. The event was a great success with the organizers CPC Elevate raisingover  $55,000 in support of  Aspen’s Empowering Families Initiative.

To find out more about the event, check out their website, HERE and stay tuned to the Urban Mixer events calendar for next year’s event.

The Blues Brothers themed event which included entertainment from the Blues Brothers Revival Band, music from musician Gerry Herbert, emcee Nirmala Naidoo and a live auction officiated by Master Auctioneer Bill Brown was packed solid with attendees who paid over $200 a ticket to attend and was a huge success in raising funds for the JDRF.

You can check out the original event invite and keep an eye out for other great events on the Urban Mixer events calendar, HERE.