Breathe Life Charity Ball
The Breathe Life Ball was held Saturday 14th June 2008
The Breathe Life Charity Ball was held on Saturday 14th June 2008 as CF NSW’s biggest fundraising activity for 2008. The Ball was held at the Sofitel Wentworth, Sydney with 502 guests in attendance and was hosted by Network Ten’s Frank Coletta and Deb Knight.
Guests were welcomed with a champagne reception whilst browsing almost 150 silent auction items. Guests had an eclectic range of silent auction items available for their perusal ranging from a state of the art Opal II Smart Flush Toilet Suite to one of only 250 framed jerseys signed by one of the greatest soccer players of all time; Pele!
Mr Joseph Crepaldi, Managing Director of Crescendo Partners; special event sponsor of the Breathe Life Charity Ball, touched guests by telling his personal family experience, thankfully a passing experience, with Cystic Fibrosis and reminded guests of the importance of giving and supporting such a worthwhile cause. After Mr Crepaldi’s emotive words MC Frank Coletta continued to move guests by speaking from his perspective, as father of child with Cystic Fibrosis (CF). Frank Coletta’s message reinforced to guests the importance of taking one day at time and of being grateful for what you have.
Julia Goodwin then wowed guests with two breathtaking song performances before addressing the audience and speaking, from the heart, about her own experiences living with CF.
After a presentation on CF, during which guests were asked to breathe through a straw in an effort to demonstrate what it is like to have CF, guests took to the dance floor and kicked their heels up to the sounds of Australian band, United Notions who pulled out the best of the best to ensure the a good time was had by all.
As the silent auction countdown began the evening’s raffle, a stunning 5 strand lariat necklace, donated by Raffle Sponsor Rox Jewellers, was won by a very happy Trevor Lipman. Our congratulations to Trevor.
As the evening drew to a close our dedicated team of volunteers continued to work to ensure a smooth end to what been a fantastic evening. The team at CF NSW would like to thank these wonderful volunteers who gave up their Saturday night to support the Ball and worked tirelessly to help ensure the evening’s success. A special mention must go to KPMG whose corporate volunteer program was a huge assistance to CF NSW at the Breathe Life Charity Ball.
The Breathe Life Charity Ball would not have been a success without the generous support of the following sponsors to whom we are extremely grateful:
Special Event Sponsor
Crescendo Partners
Raffle Sponsor
Rox Jewellers
Gold Sponsors
Geoffrey King Advertising
Masterprinting
Georg Fischer Piping Systems
Freehills Foundation
Peppertree Wines
Silver Sponsors
Canon
Solvay Pharmaceuticals
Bronze Sponsors
Allan Hall Chartered Accountants
Blue Tongue Brewery
ASX
Wee Wonders Childcare
Coral Sea Wines
Richard Elkan
The Breathe Life Charity Ball raised over $125,000 net profit which will be used to help breathe life into children and adults with Cystic Fibrosis by helping to fund our existing support and education programmes, enabling us to introduce new services in the future to meet the needs of our CF community and allowing us to continue to fund vital research through the Australian Cystic Fibrosis Research Trust in the hope of finding improved treatments and an eventual cure.
Lastly, the ‘Breathe Life’ Ball would not have been possible without the commitment of our volunteer committee; Olivia Bartholomew, Geoff and Lisa Briggs, Heidi Dunn and Annie Finn who have worked tirelessly to help put this event together. Our sincere thanks to them all for their generosity, hard work and enthusiasm over the past 6 months.
For more information on the Breathe Life Charity Ball or to support the 65 Roses Ball in 2009 please contact the Cystic Fibrosis NSW office on 02 9878 2075 or email events@cysticfibrosisnsw.org.au.
