All Star Gala 2016 Supporting SickKids & Montreal Children’s Hospital

The Second Annual All-Star Gala was an exciting glamourous event filled with great music, mingling with a new generation of philanthropists, and all for a wonderful cause! All-Star Gala 2016 was held on Friday, June 17th, inside the historic Arcadian Court, which was jam packed with over 1,200 guests, some of whom are past and present athletes from various sports leagues including the NHL, MLS, and NBA. All of the proceeds raised from the event will be directed to SickKids Hospital and the Montreal Children’s Hospital.

The goal of this semi-formal fundraiser was to raise a total of $150,000 in a night. In addition to the expansive silent auction that included rare sports memorabilia and custom suits, there was a raffle that offered a round-trip flight for two to Las Vegas. There was also a live auction where round-trip plane tickets to anywhere West Jet flies, authentic jerseys from legendary Leafs and Canadiens captains, and autographed Muhammad Ali boxing gloves were up for bidding. It was clear that the organizing team was determined to meet their target of $150,000 that night.

During the evening, eleven-year-old Julia Band Orange took her moment in the spotlight to share how incredible SickKids Hospital was to her when she spent almost her entire early childhood in the hospital with an autoimmune disease. She enchanted everyone with her courage, charm, and very impressive organizational skills with her power point presentation to explain why Sick Kids hospital relies on fundraising and how the public can help the hospital to care for children like Julia. When P.K. Subban and Pete Holland (this year’s athlete ambassadors) approached the stage, they were giving away multiple Montreal Canadiens and Toronto Maple Leafs jerseys to the guests for $300 apiece. These jerseys would later be autographed by the athlete ambassadors after the live auction. Pete Holland and P.K. Subban displayed even more generosity by giving Julia Band Orange and her family airfare to Montreal and Toronto to meet the Canadiens and Leafs team and watch them play a home game in the teams’ respective stadiums.

Peter Holland (left), James Van Riemsdyk

PK Subban (left), Julia Band-Orange

The entertainment was a huge step up from last year’s All-Star Gala. Throughout the evening, a pair of samba dancers set the dance floor on fire with their sultry dancing and amazing costumes. Aion Clarke returned to the gala, and he was just as captivating as ever! He wowed the crowd with sexy renditions of Al Green’s ‘Let’s Stay Together’, Bruno Mars’ ‘Locked out of Heaven,’ and Drake’s ‘Hotline Bling’. For the rest of the night, DJ Cale Granton did his thing and spun some reggae, rap, and dancehall songs late into the early morning.

About The SickKids (Hospital for Sick Children)
The SickKids (Hospital for Sick Children) is one of the world’s biggest and most respected pediatric health-science centres. The Sick Kids Foundation is Canada’s largest funding agency for child health care, research, and education. Philanthropy is an important source of funding for the hospital, where the proceeds go towards research, infrastructure, and state-of-the-art medical equipment.

About Montreal Children’s Hospital
The Montreal Children’s Hospital offers the highest quality healthcare to children, infants, and teenagers. Tens of thousands of children and families from across Quebec seek for care at the hospital each year, Montreal Children’s Hospital ensures them timely access to treatment in a caring environment. Besides providing groundbreaking care, the hospital is devoted to developing and recommending measures that will help prevent illness and injuries before they happen. This is also a cause that is very dear to P.K. Subban’s heart as he and his foundation pledged $10 million to the hospital in September 2015.