BROOKS HAS A KNACK FOR STAGING GREAT FUNDRAISERS
He used to be an accountant.
“Can you imagine,” says Bill Brooks with a laugh, “me at a desk all day?”
With all due respect to the profession, it’s indeed hard to imagine. When it comes to being in constant motion, Brooks could teach a master class.
On Friday, he reminisces about his short-lived white-collar career, along with his childhood as one of those rare animals — a born and bred Calgarian. “I was a Mount Royal rat; went to Western Canada High,” he says. “Then my parents moved us out to Springbank and I had to take a school bus, because I hadn’t yet learned to drive. I was mortified, it was so not cool.”
For a man always on the go, it’s uncharacteristic for Brooks to waste even a minute looking back. With his Bill Brooks Prostate Cancer Benefit about to mark its 19th and final year, though, a brief bout of nostalgia is understandable.
“I want to go out on a high,” he says of the Billy Horror Picture Show, his theme for this year’s event at Hotel Arts on Friday, January 27 (calgaryhealthtrust.ca for ticket info.) “I think $8 million is a nice, even number.”
That’s the incredible dollar amount Brooks and his longtime organizing committee have earned in aid of research, education and treatment in the fight against prostate cancer, a disease 25,000 Canadian men are diagnosed with every year.
The money raised by Brooks and his team also contributed to the birth in 2010 of the Southern Alberta Institute of Urology at Rockyview Hospital. The facility, which also houses the Prostate Cancer Centre and the Alberta Bladder Centre, is the largest and most comprehensive urological centre in the country.
When it comes to such a feat, it’s easy to understand how Brooks could accomplish it. After all, it combines all his skills and experience, not to mention his gregarious nature.
Back in the 1990s, friend Mark Wilson approached Brooks about putting on their own charitable fundraiser. “He asked me if there was a cause dear to my heart,” says Brooks.
“I immediately thought of my uncle Doug, who died of prostate cancer when he was just 44 years old.”
That first event, a wine dinner, raised $12,000. Brooks, who was already a seasoned society columnist then, saw it as a nice appetizer.
“I’ve seen what works, I know what doesn’t work,” he says of his experiences attending and reporting on hundreds of fundraisers over the years. “Prostate cancer isn’t a happy topic. People want to help, but to get them coming back year after year, you have to make it fun.”
While many other fundraisers downscaled or cancelled in 2016 due to the economic downturn, Brooks sold out.
“You have to stay on your toes,” he says, noting that he added a raffle component so those who couldn’t afford the $300 ticket price could still participate in the event.
With a heavy emphasis on fun, Brooks and his committee have staged an annual event that’s a must-do on the society calendar. For each of the themed parties, which included Billy in Wonderland and Billy of Oz, Brooks goes all out, dressing up and encouraging other partygoers to do the same.
“I did a shoot for this year’s Billy Horror Picture Show and had to drive home in full makeup,” he says of the character of Dr. Frank-n-Furter, the mad scientist/alien transvestite. “People were giving me the thumbs-up, honking and smiling. Obviously, I have no shame.”
While he’s done more than his part in the fight against prostate cancer, the final fundraiser is no swan song for Brooks’ charitable ways.
“In my next incarnation, I’ll be helping Silvera for Seniors,” he says. “I’m also staying on the board of the Prostate Cancer Centre — I’ll support that cause until the day I die.”