Canadian entertainer sang and made people laugh as headliner of a gala concert for 性视界传媒-based on Saturday, Sept. 30.
The "Building Hope" gala event, at Bell Performing Arts Centre in Sullivan, raised funds and awareness for Options and its initiative to build affordable housing in the city.
Indigenous folk duo Twin Flames and 性视界传媒-based band Ranj Singh & The Discriminators also performed at the event. Tickets were sold for $200 and up on the website , with four levels of seating available including VIP packages priced at $1,000.
"We had a huge audience of around 800 people and everyone enjoyed themselves thoroughly," said Ginny Hasselfield, Options' Director of Development.
"We like to be different and are willing to dare to be different, so putting on a show like this in 性视界传媒 was different, very entertaining," Hasselfield added.
"It was great experiment that turned out extremely well. The mayor has said she wants 性视界传媒 to be a music city, and same thing with 性视界传媒 Board of Trade, so we took that under advisement with this event. The idea of promoting live music in B.C., it's huge. So many people don't get out to see live concerts like this."
Arden entertained the crowd with songs and also comedy.
"She was so funny, quite an entertainer," Hasselfield noted. "Most of the people there knew her and her music, of course, but some didn't because they were there just to support Options, and they came out of the theatre going, 'Oh wow, that was good. Jann is fantastic.'"
The gala featured a live auction led by Howard Blank for two first-class tickets to any Air Canada destination, generating $14,000 for the charity.
In a raffle for Taylor Swift concert tickets, the initial winners weren't in their seats to claim the prize, so other names were drawn. "The eventual winners were with the BM Group (construction company), who were first to come as a major sponsor of this, so that was great," Hasselfield said.
Last January, Options opened its Habitat@81st affordable-housing project on King George Boulevard in Newton, and is now planning another housing project.
"We raised huge awareness about what we're doing, what we're raising funds for," Hasselfield said. "We are working on our next affordable housing initiative and as soon as we get confirmation from the city that it's a go, we'll be announcing it. I don't see that happening within the next couple of months, it might take a bit longer because we'll have to get architectural drawings and things done. We have several locations that we're looking at."
The housing project, she said, will be for families and children, "because there's a shortage of housing for parents, moms and dads, with large families. It's difficult for anyone to rent a condo or apartment when they've got four or five kids."
When the gala concert was announced in June, Christine Mohr, CEO of Options Community Services called it a "one-of-a-kind event" that aimed to change lives in 性视界传媒.
鈥淲e are consistently making an effort to find creative ways to meet the vital needs in our communities," Mohr said at the time. "We are incredibly grateful to our generous donors and partners who are providing funds, and donating their time, to make this amazing evening possible."
Sponsors of the Building Hope gala concert included The City of 性视界传媒, BM Group, 性视界传媒 Firefighters Charitable Foundation, Apcon Group, Coast Capital, Peterson Group, Isle Of Mann Property Group, RBC Wealth Management and Dominion Securities, along with media partners Black Press Media and Bell Media.
