I hope everyone had a safe and a Merry Christmas. I also hope that Santa Clause was good to everyone.
To those of you that didn’t make it to the fundraiser it was a tremendous success, over 400 of my friends and family were there supporting my cause. I was very touched by the generosity and was unable to personally thank all those who helped that day. I would like to take a minute to express my gratitude. There is no particular order to this and if I forget anyone I apologize so here it goes:
Melissa Arruda (my wife) for all of the planning and all of the behind the scene work. Valdemira Arruda (my mother) for all of her enthusiastic help in ticket sales and coordinating the kitchen. I would also like to thank all of those who helped in the kitchen and food serving- there are too many of you to name, but I appreciate all of your hard work.
A special thanks to Tony Medeiros for his artistic fruit carvings, which looked so beautiful on the dessert table.
My Tuesday night pals-Paul Mauro for providing the musical, and the audio component for the event, Rob Cadete for taking charge of keeping the bar stocked. Jeff Clushman for piloting a late night emergency beer run. Paul Bertoja for his generous donation, and Davide Reda for his efforts with the ticket sales, and despite his pneumonia stayed until 2:00 am to help with the clean up (guy with the truck).
To those of you that didn’t make it to the fundraiser it was a tremendous success, over 400 of my friends and family were there supporting my cause. I was very touched by the generosity and was unable to personally thank all those who helped that day. I would like to take a minute to express my gratitude. There is no particular order to this and if I forget anyone I apologize so here it goes:
Melissa Arruda (my wife) for all of the planning and all of the behind the scene work. Valdemira Arruda (my mother) for all of her enthusiastic help in ticket sales and coordinating the kitchen. I would also like to thank all of those who helped in the kitchen and food serving- there are too many of you to name, but I appreciate all of your hard work.
A special thanks to Tony Medeiros for his artistic fruit carvings, which looked so beautiful on the dessert table.
My Tuesday night pals-Paul Mauro for providing the musical, and the audio component for the event, Rob Cadete for taking charge of keeping the bar stocked. Jeff Clushman for piloting a late night emergency beer run. Paul Bertoja for his generous donation, and Davide Reda for his efforts with the ticket sales, and despite his pneumonia stayed until 2:00 am to help with the clean up (guy with the truck).
Thank you to Melissa and Matthew Thurston who donated all of the printing and publishing services.
Thanks to the Tome family for all of their help and donations, and to Nancy and Walter Cavoto for their assistance with the raffle and their donations.
Thanks to Diane and Cindy Porter for their enthusiastic drink ticket and raffle ticket sales- they did a great job!
Thank you to my brother Jesse and my sister Celia and brother in law Mark for working to sell raffle tickets and running the crown and anchor wheel.
Thank you to Olga Tome and Jennifer Bader for working the door for the entire evening.
To Kevin Banfield – the smiling guy behind the bar- who worked so hard when we were in a pinch.
To my inlaws- Marj and Chris Bosch and Jeff Bader for their hard work and to Lynn and John Christie for their help at home prepping for the night.
Thanks to Fernando Reis for his work as MC and for arranging the entertainment for the night.
Thank you to all those who helped with the set up for the evening- Diane Porter, Olga Tome, Gary Jacob, Benny Tome, Allyson Soltys and Heather Mueller.
Thank you to EVERYONE who made donations - there are far too many of you to list and I appreciate all of you. Your generosity means so much to me.
A special thank you to John and Ellie Voortman and Oakrun Bakery for their very generous donations.
I would like to thank everyone who attended the event, especially those of you who traveled from so far away including Windsor, Toronto, Mississauga, Barrie, Kincardin and Cambridge. I would like to thank everyone involved in this night; I apologize if I have forgotten anyone. I cannot even express to you how overwhelming it was to see all of you there showing your support and helping me to reach my goal of going to Shenzhen, China. I will continue to update this blog as often as I can throughout my trip. Hopefully I will be providing updates on my improvements!! Love to you all.
Thanks to the Tome family for all of their help and donations, and to Nancy and Walter Cavoto for their assistance with the raffle and their donations.
Thanks to Diane and Cindy Porter for their enthusiastic drink ticket and raffle ticket sales- they did a great job!
Thank you to my brother Jesse and my sister Celia and brother in law Mark for working to sell raffle tickets and running the crown and anchor wheel.
Thank you to Olga Tome and Jennifer Bader for working the door for the entire evening.
To Kevin Banfield – the smiling guy behind the bar- who worked so hard when we were in a pinch.
To my inlaws- Marj and Chris Bosch and Jeff Bader for their hard work and to Lynn and John Christie for their help at home prepping for the night.
Thanks to Fernando Reis for his work as MC and for arranging the entertainment for the night.
Thank you to all those who helped with the set up for the evening- Diane Porter, Olga Tome, Gary Jacob, Benny Tome, Allyson Soltys and Heather Mueller.
Thank you to EVERYONE who made donations - there are far too many of you to list and I appreciate all of you. Your generosity means so much to me.
A special thank you to John and Ellie Voortman and Oakrun Bakery for their very generous donations.
I would like to thank everyone who attended the event, especially those of you who traveled from so far away including Windsor, Toronto, Mississauga, Barrie, Kincardin and Cambridge. I would like to thank everyone involved in this night; I apologize if I have forgotten anyone. I cannot even express to you how overwhelming it was to see all of you there showing your support and helping me to reach my goal of going to Shenzhen, China. I will continue to update this blog as often as I can throughout my trip. Hopefully I will be providing updates on my improvements!! Love to you all.
