Cornwall ON – Rachel’s Kids’ held its 7th Annual Summer Garden Party and Charity Auction at the Cornwall home of chairperson, Dr. Rachel Navaneelan. Over the afternoon, 400 guests from the local community helped to raise $110,000 for children in need – both in Cornwall and around the world. The highlight of the day was the live and silent auctions, where generous bidders went head-to-head for diamond jewellery, iPads and vacation getaways. The top auction prize was a pair of premium tickets to see the band U2 perform live in Montreal with limousine service from Cornwall, which sold for $1600.
The event drew the largest number of guests that we have ever hosted and broke previous years’ records for money raised.
“I am simply amazed and delighted by the generosity of people in Cornwall”, said Rachel’s Kids’ Chairperson Dr. Rachel Navaneelan. “Every year, we manage to top the year before and thanks to our supporters, we have done it again this year!”
This year, Rachel’s Kids also organized a charity raffle with all of the proceeds going towards renovating the Pediatric Ward of the Cornwall Community Hospital. Over 800 tickets were sold, generating $40,000 of the total money raised. Yesterday, the lucky ticket for the top prize ; a brand new 2011 Toyota Corolla; was won by Corry Van Gaalder of Cornwall.
“We are simply thrilled by the turn-out of guests this year and, of course, with the amazing total of money raised”, said Gillian Oxley-Harper, Vice-Chairperson of Rachel’s Kids. “This support means we will be able to continue our important local projects in Cornwall and expand to reach even more children next year!”
Rachel’s Kids would like to thank all of our volunteers and local sponsors who helped make this wonderful day possible.
From Dr. Navaneelan:
“We are thrilled to have received such a great outpouring of support from the Cornwall community. With the money raised, Rachel’s Kids will be donating tens of thousands of dollars to our flagship program for 2011: renovating the pediatric ward of the Cornwall Community Hospital. We’re also going to be doing similar renovations the Boys and Girls Club of Akwesasne and continuing our long-time partnership with the United Way of Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry. And, of course, a portion of the money will go towards our overseas projects with children in India and Sri Lanka. These have been tough economic times for many people in our town so to see such a generous turn out is very inspiring. We are very touched by the vote of confidence Cornwall has made in us and we are excited to start re-investing this money back into the community as soon as possible.”
ABOUT RACHEL’S KIDS:
Rachel’s Kids is a registered charitable organization based in Cornwall and supported through community contributions. Our goal is to aid impoverished, neglected and abused children with a special focus on education. Since the organization is run entirely by local volunteers, over 95% of all money raised goes directly to our beneficiaries. Rachel’s Kids has two program areas: children in need in our local Cornwall community, and children in need around the world, especially in Sri Lanka and India.
Rachel’s Kids initially formed in response to the devastating Indian Ocean Tsunami in 2004. Our first goal was to help children affected by that disaster in Sri Lanka, the homeland of our Chairperson Rachel Navaneelan. Seven years later, Rachel’s Kids runs numerous projects across Cornwall as well as past and current projects in Sri Lanka, India, Vietnam and the Dominican Republic. In Cornwall, we have on-going projects with the Cornwall Community Hospital, United Way of Stormont, Dundas & Glengarry and the Boys & Girls Club of Akwesasne. Past partners have also included the Baldwin House, Children’s Treatment Centre and the Cornwall Hospice.
