2012 ACS Gala

Last weekend, our local American Cancer Society held their annual Gala event. This year, our goal was to re-brand the event to encourage additional participation from the community.

We went along with the theme of “Helping Create a World with Less Cancer and More Birthdays” and that’s where Candles and Cocktails came in!



I love Gala and I love getting dressed up! Perfect combination! I’ve attended Gala the past two years and this year I volunteered for the planning committee.

2011 ACS Gala
2010 ACS Gala



Patron party food. No, not Patrón party food, PATRON party food. Someone at our table was mad because they weren’t invited to (what they thought was) the Patrón party as listed in the program. Jason and I wanted to die laughing but we held it in!



Anyway, the food was awesome!!



The dinner room floor – we wanted to have a lot of color but not overpowering. When the room was complete, I walked in and said “WOW!” – it really looked great!



Centerpiece #1



Centerpiece #2.

While we were decorating, the discovery was made that I tie bows well – therefore, I tied bow after bow after bow! I didn’t mind – it was for a worthy cause! :0)

 

The stage



We had a few “extra” fun activities – the #1 most popular was caricatures!



I’ve never had one drawn before so I was excited. Jason, not so much. He gave the lady a ton of compliments so she would make him “look good”. He’s such a mess!



I liked it!! :0)



We also had a silent auction with a lot of really neat items. We raised quite a bit during the silent auction which was a great thing!



Katie opened up the evening with a few words…

After Katie spoke, three of us got on stage and lit a candle – all of our stories were from different perspectives. The young boy who spoke first was diagnosed at a young age (now 18) and is an ACS college scholarship recipient. He lit a candle for all of the scholarship recipients.



I spoke about the transportation grant that we receive for patients and how our department provides ACS with patient referrals for assistance. I lit a candle for all of the patients receiving assistance from ACS.

The guy who spoke after me had all of the survivors in the room stand up and we sang Happy Birthday to them. He lit a candle for all of the survivors.

After I got back to our table, the Hospital administrator told me that I am going to be the “new face” of our hospital. (He was kidding.) Jason then piped in and said, “Oh she LOVES being in commercials.”

I
WAS
MORTIFIED!

My face was red and I wanted to kick him. I could not believe he said that!

Anyway,  moving on….



This is the crew from my hospital. We are a bunch of goofballs!



Our entertainment came from a group called Bottoms Up out of Hammond, LA. They were incredible!!! REALLY good band!

  

We had a fabulous night and really enjoyed celebrating with the survivors in the room. I’m so grateful that I have the opportunity to work with ACS in such a close way!

Hope you have a fabulous weekend! Stay tuned! Giveaway coming soon! :0)