The 28th Annual Great Valentine Day Gala
March 1, 2012 by deblewis
Filed under Past Events, Toronto
While everyone was exchanging chocolates and candy this Valentine’s Day, CityEvents assisted The Canadian Foundation for Physically Disabled Persons (CFPDP) host The 28th Annual Great Valentine Gala. Held at the prestigious Fairmont Royal York Hotel, The Great Valentine Gala was an evening filled with great food, appreciation of our paralympians hosted by CBC’s News Now Suhana Meharchand, with a performance by Adrien Breda and Debby Boone!
The CFPDP works to assisting Canadians with physical disabilities to improve their life, while recognizing the contributions and achievements they’ve made to society. Every February, the CFPDP hosts The Great Valentine Gala to showcase and celebrate all of the contributions and talents of physically disabled people. Raising close to 13 million over the years, The Great Valentine Gala offers guests an evening to congratulate Canadian paralympians for all of their hard work.
During the night, The CFPDP gives out awards to corporations and individuals, recognizing them for all of their contributions to the lives of people with disabilities. The King Clancy Award was given to three extremely generous and wonderful people, Rick Mercer, from The Rick Mercer Report; Dr. David Legg is the President for the Canadian Paralympic Committee, and Faye Blackwood paralympian coach. They have both made huge contributions to the physically disabled community and paralympians. The corporations that were awarded included Shoppers Drugmart Home Healthcare, represented by VP of National Rehab Operations Fred Kosseim and The Royal Ontario Museum, represented by Director and CEO Janet Carding.
Some of the special guests who attended the event were: Lt. Governor, Hon. David C. Onley and his wife, the Honourable Michael Wilson, Chairman Barclays Capital Canada and John Lutz, President, IBM, Other special guests who attended the Gala were, Honourable Preeti Saran Consul General of India, Senator Con Di Nino, Senator Joyce Fairbairn, Senator Don Meredith, Senator Jim Munson, Senator Asha Seth, Deepak Chopra, President & CEO, Canada Post, Sabi Marwah, Vice-Chairman & COO, Scotiabank, and Wilf Wilkinson past President Rotary International.
The Valentine Gala closed the evening with a moving performance by Debby Boone, ending her performance with a classic love song, “You Light up My Life”.
The Great Valentine Gala was a perfect evening; CityEvents staff contributed to the success of the event on and, behind the scenes as the event producer. Prior to the event, CityEvents was responsible for booking the suppliers of the event and organizing the flow, making sure our special guests were accommodated, as well as overseeing all of the logistics of the event. During the event CityEvents team worked to set-up and take down of the event. CityEvents were responsible to make sure guests and speakers were accommodated, and managed the stage flow.
If you would like to hear more about CFPDP, the Gala, how to get involved, or see pictures from this event, please visit http://www.cfpdp.com, www.torontocityevents.ca, http://www.flickr.com/photos/cityeventstoronto, or the CityEvents Twitter page for more event information.
