Inaugural Event
On Saturday the 16th of June 2012, the Many Faces of Cancer held the inaugural Charity Dinner at the Hilton in Adelaide. The event was very successful with more than 250 people in attendance raising in excess of $23,000 for Cancer Council SA.
Angie Nguyen and Henri Nguyen presenting a cheque to Troy Flower (General Manager Business Development, Cancer Council SA)
Some of the generous items that were up for auction at the 2012 Charity Dinner included:
- Dinner for five with Callum Hann from Master Chef at Ambrosini’s restaurant
- Exclusive dinner for six prepared by Dennis Leslie, Executive Chef at the Adelaide Hilton
- Four tickets live to Before the Game footy show from Channel 10 along with one night’s accommodation for four people in Melbourne courtesy of the Hilton
- Scenic flight for four people over the Barossa or Adelaide courtesy of Swift Air Australia
- Football signed by the Captain and Coach from the Adelaide Crows Football Club, and
- A host of other fantastic items, including a granite coffee table from Tillett Natural Stones.
Many Faces of Cancer Charity Dinner 2012 booklet (PDF 939Kb)
A summary of the Many Faces of Cancer Charity Dinner 2012 by Angie Nguyen
The night far exceeded our expectations, getting off to a great start with George Kapiniaris, our amazing MC warmed the crowd up and made sure that everyone was relaxed and comfortable with his warm, witty, friendly and charming manner.
Callum Hann throughout the entire experience was wonderfully generous in giving up his time to help us promote the event as well as being one of our star auction prizes, he was also very open with his own experiences with Cancer and how it had affected his family.
Callum and George both ensured that my nerves didn’t get the better of me as we started the evening by discussing why we started the Many Faces of Cancer, something which to this day still brings tears to my eyes when I think about our motivation and objectives for raising funds to help battle Cancer.
The Hilton ballroom was filled with life and laughter as our guests enjoyed themselves, with the band the New Romantics ensuring that everybody had a great time dancing to the music, with George staying the entire evening and joining our guests for a dance himself.
Sharon Gray and Sally Bellamy combined their efforts magnificently which resulted in the live auctions being very successful, they both worked the audience as top real estate auctioneers would, making sure that everyone had fun and bid generously with the MFOC being able to raise much needed funds for Cancer Council SA.
The most enjoyable part of the evening for me was being able to personally visit and meet all the guests to thank them for attending and having them share their stories with me. It is these personal stories that motivate my husband and I as well as our small team to continue the work of the MFOC.
A few days after the event, once we had caught our breath after a completely crazy six months of planning, preparation, and execution we were able to present the funds that we had raised to Cancer Council SA, and it was at this point that we knew all the work was well worth the effort and committed to going again.
The MFOC will be expanding the events and fundraising opportunities in the years to come as we grow, something we are all very excited about, so stay tuned and we look forward to seeing you in 2014!
