519 Gala, Toronto
Since 1976, the 519 in Toronto’s Church Wellesley Village has been at the centre of the city’s LGBTQ2S community. The 519, which receives more than a half-million visits annually, offers over 60 programs including trauma-informed counselling services, programming for older LGBTQ people, training initiatives to help organizations create LGBTQ2S-inclusive spaces, refugee support groups and recreation activities for trans and gender-questioning young people. Nearly 100,000 people participated in the programs last year, and the Annual 519 Gala helps raise funds to support these important initiatives. This year’s edition, organized by the centre’s honorary patron, Salah Bachir, president of Cineplex Media, was a Sunday evening dinner and show thrown on Oct. 28. It was set to feature Chita Rivera, but unfortunately the Tony Award winner took ill in the days preceding the event (she’s okay now), so taking her place was Ben Vereen, a fellow Tony winner who has graced Broadway stages in Pippin, Jesus Christ Superstar, Hair and numerous other productions. Vereen was a delight, and with BMO Financial Group, Slaight Family Foundation and Cineplex Media as key sponsors, the sold-out gathering raised an impressive $350,000.
RBC Innovators’ Ball, Toronto
A couple of weeks later, another centre – this one focused on science – held its annual do. The RBC Innovators’ Ball, now in its 11th year, is the Ontario Science Centre’s most important and largest fundraising event. More than 500 big givers attended, including Beacon executive chair and chief executive Sam Duboc and his wife, Claire, a managing director at CBT Associates, and Air Canada’s chief information officer, Catherine Dyer, who served as the event co-chairs. What sets this funder apart is that instead of the typical mid-meal performance or after-dinner auction, a trio of Canadian innovators take to the stage between courses to give TED Talk-style presentations. Among them this year was Harleen Kaur, the founder and CEO of news-verification app Ground News, and Ryan Janzen, CEO and co-founder of TransPod, which is developing ultrahigh-speed transportation technology. The funds raised, a record-breaking $730,000, will support education and programming initiatives, namely the Adopt-a-Class program, which welcomes classes from schools in some of Toronto’s more underserved neighbourhoods to the science centre to participate in curriculum-related science programs at no cost. This year’s gathering alone will give 8,000 students, or about 200 classes, a chance to take part.
Live with style. We have a weekly Style newsletter on fashion and design trends, plus shopping tips and inspiration. Sign up today.