Gala Dinner Raises Much Needed Funds

On Saturday the 19th of August, 118 guests arrived at The Adelaide Zoo for The Nanny Diary’s first Gala Dinner, looking absolutely stunning and ready to raise much needed funds for The Childhood Cancer Association.

The venue looked superb, thanks to the wonderful work of Simply Sublime Events who donated all the decorations and lighting for free, as well as donating their time to set up at 7:30am that morning. Decked out in the a beautiful array of pink, blue and yellow, in keeping with the colours of the CCA logo, the Rotunda was simply stunning.

The weather may have been chilly, but there was indescribable warmth in the air as guests mingled and enjoyed the beautiful music by Sheridan Bonney. Soon our first guest speaker for the evening, Ben Mead from the CCA, took the stage. There wasn’t a dry eye in the house as Ben recounted his experience with the CCA when his 6-year-old daughter was abruptly diagnosed with leukaemia. We cannot thank Ben enough for his involvement in the evening, it was a truly special moment and wonderful to hear his story.

The drinks continued to flow as the exceptional food from Quality Catering was served. We were also very privileged to hear from CCA Young Ambassador, Tara Knight who spoke of what it was like to be diagnosed with cancer as a child. She then treated guests to a wonderful original piece of music she composed and wrote, Paper Cranes. A very special song, with a very special meaning sung by a very special young lady.

As the night went on, the silent auction continued to be a hit with 27 incredible items up for grabs. In closing, thanks to the generous donations of many South Australian businesses, our silent auction raised $3075. Finally, it was time for the much anticipated live auction. The brilliant Joe Murdock led the bidding wars as our wonderful auctioneer, selling off items including PAFC framed memorabilia, Wykari Wine, houseboat holiday, AFC change-room passes and our biggest item of the evening – a Caudo Vineyard experience on the Grape Escape. It was a joyful, entertaining affair with some wonderful money raised, a total of $7000.

The evening had flown by so quickly, and before we knew it, it was time to pack up and head home. With full hearts and beaming smiles, we felt so proud to have helped such an incredible organization. We thank so many incredible people for their generosity and support in helping our evening come together! We couldn’t have done it without you.

In total, we raised $14,394.23 for The Childhood Cancer Association, and we look forward to many more years of working with such a wonderful charity that support so many children and their families.

Until next year!

Huge thanks to:

The Modern Event Planner

Simply Sublime Events

Quality Catering

Ellshot Photography

Yellow Acoustic Duo

Adelaide Zoo

Made by Georgia Cookies

Jessie Mitchell, Alanna Smith and Brooke Penney

Matt Walker

Rob and Mandy Knight