While Soirée By the Sea took place a few months ago, I recently spoke with luxury event producer Aidan Henry at Brink Events, and he shared the wonderful results of the charity event with me. And I then had to share them with our readers: They raised $187,500 for the Nanaimo Hospital Foundation!
The impressive afternoon was hosted on Saysutshun Island, which is 10 minutes off the coast of Nanaimo. Guests arrived by ferry, boat, and yacht to enjoy fine food and beverages, live entertainment and dancing, and a generally smashing good time.
“One guest said, ‘I’ll do 50 grand,’ and the generosity snowballed from there. It went around the room, 10 grand here, 5 grand there… the energy was incredible.”
Aidan Henry, Brink Events
This is a perfect example of how a well-executed luxury event, even with a small guest list, can produce incredible results for charity, on top of an amazing time meeting amazing people. With only around 90 attendees raising $187,500, it’s clear the small guest list had huge hearts that care deeply about their community. And with the struggles our health care system is facing, it couldn’t be more appreciated.
Speaking with Aidan, he mentioned how in a sea of so many events and fundraisers, how vital it is to bring originality and excitement to the table, “If you push things a little bit, you can get people excited about events again, rather than just expecting another charity gala sit-down kind of thing. It takes a solid team and a solid client to pull off something truly unique like an island party – and the results were an unforgettable good time for our guests and an unbelievable amount raised for an important cause.”
Visit nanaimohospitalfoundation.com/soiree-by-the-sea/ for more info and ways you can contribute and follow them on Instagram at @soireebythesea_ndhf. You can also follow @brink.events on Instagram. And if you missed it, here’s our preview of Soirée By the Sea.
