LOUD Rewind
Joan-E arrives to emcee the Second Annual LOUD Awards
So far the accounts of the LOUD Awards have been pleasantly positive. The community foundation, whose name is an acronym of Leadership Opportunity Unity and Diversity, held its second annual gala on Thursday 20 May. Though the official numbers are not in yet, early reports indicate the fundraiser exceeded expectations.
Scoping out the silent auction at the LOUD Awards
Pundits started arriving promptly at 7 o’clock and after a spell of networking, perusing and bidding on silent auction items, gathered to witness the awarding of the scholarships. In attendance were, amongst many other, Dr. Hedy Fry, MP, Jennifer Breakspear of Qmunity, Drew Dennis of Out On Screen, Ryan and Ryan of Pinq.ca, Jim Deva of Little Sister’s Bookstore as well as representative of sponsors TD Canada Trust, Telus and KPMG. Our 3 recipients, Jacob Schroeder, Ryan Clayton, Taylor Basso and Little Sister’s awardee Julie Browne, were humble, articulate and a little overwhelmed.
In an appropriately theatrical turn of events, Peter from Telus—no one knew his last name at the time—, asked to address the crowd and proceeded to divulge that the telecom giant would contribute an additional 50% to all scholarships, bringing the total amount given to each LOUD recipient $3,000 and $1,500 for the Little Sister’s Award.
After the audience and recipients recovered from the news, the beer and wine continued to flow and the fundraising part of the programme took centre stage with live and silent auctions bringing a great response. Joan-E was resplendent as ever and Raye Sunshine’s titillating performances spiced things up nicely.
Raye Sunshine pouting pretty
As the evening wore on MC Joan-E mused that only 20 years ago this level of corporate buy-in to a community foundation geared towards the development of the GLBT community would have been unheard of. I guess sometimes being LOUD pays off.
Thank you to everyone who attended or supported the event. It’s been well worth it. If you weren’t part of our amazing group of sponsors this year, you can get in on the action next year.
Thanks for a wonderful evening and a fun event.
Thanks for your support Jennifer.
Leave a comment
Your email is never published or shared. Required fields are marked*
Please be constructive.