A BRILLIANT NIGHT EMBRACES BRAIN CANCER RESEARCH
Gala event generates $1.2 million, funds that help battle deadly disease
So, yeah, there’s no question: Social Notes is not the place Gazette readers tune in for a hard news fix, but there’s great affinity in this word-estate for going glam, good grown-up dress-up, letting loose, eating well, and the art of the partee (good for the soul).
That said, and I don’t mean to be preachy (OK, maybe a pinch of preach), but noties, careful not to judge a social column by its frothy trappings, as fabulous as they might be (and they can be pretty fabulous). You see, the froth routinely tops much substance, usually in the form of incredible individuals who, inspired and ignited by life challenges, choose to not let the difficult circumstances define them, but rather, attempt to channel the overwhelming emotion and energy into doing something bigger and greater for the community at large.
And more often than not, this initiative, take-action attitude, and commitment to making a difference in a real and meaningful way culminates in … making a difference in a real and meaningful way.
Which brings us, to today’s featured event: the third annual A Brilliant Night gala cocktail dinatoire for the Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital — the ultimate illustration of the aforementioned decoding of the modern day Social Notes Column.
Indeed, while the sold-out soirée brimmed with party perks integral to the throwing of a memorable bash (from the stunning Le Salon Richmond venue and the glowing Manina Productions dancers, to the fine fare generously furnished by top foodie spots like Arthur’s, Beatrice, Mikado, Miss Prête à manger, Moishes, Pub St-Pierre, the Old Port Fishing Company and Tuck Shop), what ultimately took this brilliant event into ultra brilliance was the machine that propelled it: the truly amazing people affected by brain cancer — as survivors, loved ones and concerned citizens, who, in the face of great adversity and pain, chose to rise up and make a difference together in the fight against the devastating disease.
Just what kind of difference did the passionate people propelling A Brilliant Night make? Think indefatigable proponents, including event vice-chair Ivan Boulva and wife, co-founder Marie-Claude Lacroix (who lost their 27 year old son to brain cancer), co-emcee Lee Haberkorn (who similarly lost his dad in February), co-founder Heidi Small (who also lost her dad) and honorary chair Eric R. La Flèche, who simply refused to accept the status quo, instead lending above and beyond support to the night.
How about generating a combined tall tally of $2,998,000 in just three years ($1.2 mil this year alone), funds that have made, and will continue to make, a staggeringly important global impact on the research of Glioblastoma Multiform (GBM), the most common and lethal form of brain cancer with an average survival rate of 16 months, by facilitating the largest singlecell RNA sequencing project in cancer worldwide.
Perhaps Kevin Petrecca, William Feindel chair in NeuroOncology at the Neuro, best captured the enormity of the difference made by the “Brilliant” squad when, at the event, he noted: “Now we know almost all of the changes that have taken place to give rise to the cancer, and we’re more in an enlightened way trying to develop strategies to treat this cancer,” he said. “There’s absolutely no way over the last two years that any of this work would have been even conceived of would it have not been for the financial support of all of you here. We are very, very, very, very grateful.”
And so, to those who fail to see beyond the froth and fab of frothy and fab events, and their equally frothy fab descriptions in Social Columns, kindly reread today’s Social Notes.