National Philanthropy Day 2012
We felt so honoured to once again be invited to photograph the National Philanthropy Day 2012 at the Empress Victoria. I have to admit its pretty amazing to get to meet so many motivated and inspiring people and groups. It's like getting to look 'behind the purple curtain' and getting to a glimpse of the amazing celebrities that make our world better.
Like kids at Reynolds Secondary School who raised 109,000!! for Tour de Rock. I have to admit I was brushing away tears during the video they showed to introduce their presentation, and it's clear how they where able to raise so much money - how can you resist kids with so much drive! Just amazing.
Linda Hughes from United Way presented the the youth award winner for kids aged 5-10! The girls from St. Margaret’s Junior School not only had an amazing presentation but made me think about my own daughters 4th birthday party in 2 days. 24 kids coming! I have to admit I would rather they bring a donation to a charity than a gift… but Christmas is just around the corner and there are always lots of opportunities to give then.
Bruce Williams MC'd the event and I always enjoy how he captivates the audience and delivers perfect calculated jokes. Suzanne Dube started the event and then Jocelyn Daw with the keynote address.
I can still hear parts of David Flaherty's perfectly delivered speech after he accepted the award for Spirit of Generosity. He talked about how it was our privilege to donate and how these donations make the world go round, sometimes feeling bad because he gets so much pleasure out of helping others. I'm of course paraphrasing.
Ron Hewitt educated us on the Children’s Health Foundation, and Carol Ann Rolls won the volunteer award for her tireless efforts. I still smile thinking about her speech "when people see me coming now they just ask "how much do you need?"
Rasool Rayani delivered a perfect speech about the wonderful things the peoples pharmacy does for the community and presented the award to Soroptimist Victoria for their amazing efforts winning the Service Club award.
Carmen Charette from the UVic Announced the award winner – Colliers International for the Corporate award. Ray Lawson from Telus gave an energizing talk about the efforts of Telus raising 600% more money this year and big plans for next year.
Thank you so much for inviting me to be part of your event. I look forward to next year.
Don't forget to login to the gallery to see all the images from the event. Email me if you need the login and password.
All the best
Melanie