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MIRACLE NIGHT Members of B.C.’s South Asian community and guests raised a record $755,000 at the 10th anniversary of A Night of Miracles Gala — $275,000 more than the amount collected last year.
The fundraising achievement represented a milestone in philanthropic support from the community. The evening’s impressive haul pushed the cumulative fundraising total beyond the $5-million mark for B.C. Children’s Hospital.
This year’s benefit, co-presented by Fasken and Rogers Communications, was an extraordinary evening of fundraising, fine dining and dancing set to a vintage Bollywood theme.
Chaired by Bob Rai and Manjot Hallen, the pair welcomed more than 400 philanthropic, business and community leaders, among them Harjit Sajjan, Minister of National Defence and Janet Austin, Lieutenant Governor of B.C. to the fundraising gala.
A performance by the Aditya Bollywood Dance School and curated dinner by celebrity chef Vikram Vij and Marriott Pinnacle Hotel executive chef Ben Mattman got the party started.
In the live action, five unique experiences commanded bids well above asking but the biggest moment came after the Bhatti family shared their son Sahib’s story and the care he received at B.C. Children’s Hospital following his life-saving, openheart surgery at three months of age. Donations ranging from $500 to $50,000 rained down contributing to the stellar night.
“This year marks a decade of dedication and support from the South Asian community, who push the boundaries of what’s possible for B.C.’s kids,” said Teri Nicholas, the CEO of B.C. Children’s Hospital Foundation.
Funds raised will support a new $12-million Sunny Hill Health Centre for Children. Currently located in East Vancouver, Sunny Hill is the only children’s rehabilitation centre of its kind in the province.
FAR-SIGHTED FUNDRAISER
Twenty years since she learned her five-year-old son Gavin was diagnosed with Retinitis Pigmentosa — a degenerative disease that strikes children and young adults resulting in a progressive and narrowing tunnel vision that can lead to blindness — Ann Morison continues her crusade to raise money for sight-saving research.
In 2001, with the help of a friend who happened to be a comedian and family members, Comic Vision was born.
The comedy fundraiser flourished and became a national effort with similar events taking place in cities across the country, from Toronto and Montreal, to Calgary and Vancouver.
With every stop over the past two decades, Morrison has been there to share her story and raise funds for the Foundation Fighting Blindness. Today, she is the firm’s chief fundraiser. Vancouver would be the final stop of Comic Vision’s 2018 cross-country tour.
Yours truly served as master of ceremonies while
Mayce Galoni and Juno Award-winning funny man
Ivan Decker headlined the night of laughs.
Before the comedians hit the Imperial Lounge stage, Morrison and Vancouver party chair Rob Simmons thanked attendees who packed the room to help. They would pour over one-of-akind auction items and lavish the foundation with donations, resulting in more than $110,000 raised, toppling last year’s record haul.
Proceeds from the night will help bring scientists closer to finding treatments to restore sight to one million
QUALITY JOURNALISM Postmedia News and CBC journalists were big winners at the annual Jack Webster Awards, named after the legendary late broadcaster honouring the best in reporting across B.C.
The so-called Oscars of B.C. Journalism, a dozen trophies were presented at the Hyatt Regency Hotel for best in broadcast, print and digital coverage.
The Vancouver Sun and The Province reporters and photographers received honours in three categories at the awards gala. A team of scribes and shutterbugs took home Canadians currently living with retinal eye diseases, a delighted Morrison shared.
Since its inception, Comic Vision has raised $9.5 million for groundbreaking vision research at hospitals and universities nationwide. the Webby for best breaking news reporting for the paper’s extensive coverage of B.C.’s wildfires. Rob Shaw won a Webster for his business story on the economics of public auto insurance, while former Postmedia scribe Sam
Cooper received accolades for his in-depth coverage of B.C.’s dirty money in casinos, drugs and real estate.
CBC Radio sound producer
Lee Rosevere was the evening’s biggest individual winner, picking up three of the public broadcaster’s four awards.
Rosevere was part of a group of CBC journalists who received kudos for best breaking news radio reporting, excellence in science, technology and environmental reporting and feature reporting. The latter a much-listened to podcast series on Metro Vancouver’s out-ofcontrol real estate market
Rosevere recorded with Stephen Quinn, Bal Brach, Matt
Parsons and Laura Palmer.
The irony of all this, Rosevere shared when accepting the award, is “this is why I am moving to Charlottetown, P.E.I. tomorrow. I simply can’t afford to live in Vancouver anymore.”