Community members dressed up in their best Great Gatsby-themed attire to attend the first Big Deal Charity Gala fundraiser for the Big Brothers Big Sisters Langley (BBBSL).
The fundraiser aimed to raise about $60,000 for the organization by holding a formal dinner event at the Coast Hotel & Convention Centre on Saturday, Feb. 23.
“It’s a new event for our agency to help support mentoring programs in the Langley community,” explained BBBSL executive director Roslyn Henderson.
Keynote speaker Lee-Anne Kelleher shared her own Big Brother Big Sister story with the crowd, as her own son had a ‘Big Brother’ when he was young, and Kelleher now mentors as a ‘Big Sister.’
Kelleher enrolled her son in BBBSL because he lost his father when he was 19 months old.
“He needed someone he could trust, and somebody that was not connected to me,” Kelleher explained.
“The matches were not made on first-come first-serve basis but instead matched on similar interests. I found this reassuring because whoever they were going to match my son with needed boundless energy, to be outgoing,” she elaborated.
The friendship between Kelleher’s son and Big Brother has lasted well beyond the BBBSL program.
After aging out of the program at 18, Kelleher’s son remains close friends with his Big Brother.
Kelleher has been mentoring a Little Sister for the past two years.
“I feel I’ve reconnected with a younger version of myself. I’ve been reminded of what it’s like to be a kid again,” she said.
READ MORE: Life-long friendship formed at Big Brothers Big Sisters of Langley
Approximately 200 guests enjoyed the evening filled with food, entertainment, prizes, and a live game show called the Big Deal Game Show inspired by the TV series Deal or No Deal.
During the Big Deal Game Show, guests had the chance to purchase and enter tickets into a draw for a variety of mystery suitcases that were filled with prize packages such as sports events, spa getaways, gift cards, fitness passes, and more.
According to Henderson, the evening consisted of $23,000 worth of prizes.
Those who had their name drawn for a suitcase had to pick a suitcase and either keep it or auction it off and keep half of the proceeds.
However, the catch was that two of the 12 suitcases did not have a large prize inside.
Langley Mayor Val van den Broek and MLA Mary Polak played host to the game show.
Big Deal Charity Gala replaced the BBBSL’s Bowl for Kids Sake event that occurred for the past 30 years.