On December 7, 2019, S.T.A.N.D. Against Sexual Assault hosted our first annual Holiday Gala at the Strathmore Civic Centre.
The goal of this event was to raise awareness, build a community of support, and raise funds for the upcoming year.
The event was a huge success!
We met or exceeded every goal we had set leading up to the gala. 280 people attended and helped us raise over $30,000 to support survivors of sexual assault!
Highlights included:
- A keynote presentation from Maeghen Cotterill, 11-time World Champion in kickboxing and karate, and a survivor of sexual violence.
- Exciting live and silent auctions hosted by Strathmore’s own Grant Klaiber and Fred and Marilyn Rappel.
- Being blown away by the generosity of local businesses who helped us collect over 100 amazing auction items for the event – these donations were a huge part of the Gala’s financial success.
- The theme for the evening was “change starts with us” and you could feel the supportive and positive energy throughout the evening.
To every person who bought a ticket, volunteered their time, made a donation, and showed up to support us, thank you from the bottom of our hearts.
Because of support from people like you, we truly believe we can create the change that is so desperately needed in our community and across the country.
And finally a huge thank you to The Town of Strathmore for generously covering the costs of the facility rental, and to Lindsay from Land & Sea Photography who donated her time and talent to capture the event so beautifully (see below).
We are beyond proud of what we were able to accomplish but we couldn’t have done it without the support we received from our small town and beyond. We are motivated to use everything we learned to make the 2020 Holiday Gala an even bigger success.
We hope to see you there!