Oakville News N.M.
Halton Women's Place Superstar Gala was the place to be last Saturday night. Hundreds of guests arrived wearing their best to enjoy a fantastic evening, and they did.
A veritable who's who attended, including the Minister of National Defence Anita Anand with her husband John, as well as Oakville's Mayor Rob Burton and his wife Wendy, to name a few.
Oakville News N.M.
Halton Women's Place Superstar Gala
The tables were resplendent. The food was delicious. Before dinner, the servers offered a variety of hot and cold hors d'oeuvres, at which time guests could partake in the open bar. A nice touch was the candy table, where guests could fill little white bags with all sorts of sweet treats.
Dinner started with a tomato roasted red pepper with feta salad, followed by perfectly cooked tortellini in a cream sauce. For the main course, guests were served a melt-in-your-mouth filet and, for dessert, a chocolate mouse. At the tables were a bottle of white and red wines.
During the evening, guests were encouraged to take part in the silent auction, which had spa passes, signed sports jerseys, a wheelbarrow full of booze, and many beautiful paintings.
There were two raffles, one that included a trip or Air Canada plane tickets and the other for a gorgeous ring. In less than 10 minutes, $118,000 was raised to Fund A Need.
The evening culminated with a live auction for a week's vacation in Mexico, plane tickets, and a round of golf, plus dinner at a premier course in Muskoka.
Jack McGuirk
Guests used a key to open up the treasure chest, awarding the bejewelled ring.
It was heartwarming to hear from Paul and Flo, the parents of Darian (who was slain). They shared their personal story of loss and how Halton Women's Place (HWP) was incredibly supportive. Behind what was a glamorous evening is the serious issue of intimate partner violence which skyrocketed during the pandemic.
HWP has also launched a successful learning program for youth, teaching 20,000 students about intimate partner violence in an age-appropriate manner.
Intimate partner violence statistics
- 10 calls related to intimate partner violence are fielded by Halton Regional Police every day
- 52 women were killed in Ontario from Nov 2021 to December 2022, attributed to intimate partner violence, not including numerous deaths not reported at the request of a victim's family.
- 170 women and children annually are sheltered in one of the two HWP shelters
- 500 to 700 women are supported by HWP community outreach programs
- 2500 calls are answered annually by the HWP emergency hotline
Jack McGuirk
Mayor Burton chatting with one of the HRPS officers who were assisting with raffle sales.
Though much money was raised, HWP requires more resources (over $4 million annual budget), including volunteers. If you can help, please donate to HWP.
Finally, thank you to all the sponsors, especially Atlas Canada, for being the HWP gala's first title sponsor.
