I made a whirlwind trip to Edmonton last weekend to participate in the Pink Tie Gala in support of Rethink Breast Cancer. The event was driven by Sylvia Soo, a creative and talented young woman who was diagnosed with breast cancer at age 25 and now at 26 is taking on the breast cancer fundraising scene by storm. Sylvia and her cute and cool BFFs organized the volunteer driven event. They did an amazing job! Sylvia has both a magnetic and laid-back personality - she was so chill hosting this big party (I recall being much more of a high strung mess at my first big event when I was her age!). It’s clear that her story resonates in the community. She pulled in talented suppliers and generous sponsors to put on a kick-ass, celebratory and very stylish event – delicious and very bountiful food, great décor including a glass cherry blossom tree and fabulous staging for the fashion show, which absolutely transformed the LEXUS dealership. In addition to a fashion show featuring local designers, entertainment ranged from what I call “so you think you can dance” style dancers to a really cute little burlesque troupe to a salsa number to two guys doing a rap to a very powerful spoken word artist. It all worked! I loved how the buzzing crowd embraced the theme, especially the women of course. There were tons of stunning pink dresses – none more lovely than Sylvia’s who absolutely glowed that night. Some women went for all black with hot pink accessories – giant corsage headband and/or faux flower pin a la Carrie Bradshaw. And there were soooooo many really amazing pink shoes!
My night at the party was also a bit of a “blind-date” with one of our monthly donors! Earlier this year, I connected with some of our monthly donors via email just to check in and find out how they got involved with Rethink. I struck up a great email convo with an Edmonton donor, Sarah. She’s a 30-something advertising exec and it turns out, her mom is the one who first told her about Rethink. Her mom is a breast cancer survivor and is very active in launching Wellspring in Edmonton. When I emailed Sarah last week to see if we could have coffee while I was in town, she already had her tickets to the event! I had a great time hanging out with Sarah and her friends at the party. I also got to meet and chat with a couple of women in Development (i.e. fundraising) for U of A’s department of medicine – turns out they knew some of Sarah’s group too. There seemed to be lots of overlap amongst the guests, which is always so fun.
A huge thank you to Sylvia and her volunteer team. Can’t wait to hear the fundraising total!!
If you think you’d be interested in pulling together an event for Rethink (big or small, it all helps) please get in touch. Our events team can offer support and you get to be creative, have fun and help keep our vital programs growing!
P.S. Sylvia organized this event as a volunteer but we have just hired her as our Programs & Events Coordinator, Alberta & B.C. After attending her event, I’m more excited than ever that we’ve hired her to help grow Rethink Breast Cancer.
MJ,
Executive Director, Rethink Breast Cancer
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