2017 Evening of Dreams Gala
July 7, 2018
Our 6th annual Evening of Dreams Gala took place on October 5, 2017, and was another historic milestone for us. Not only did we unveil our new identity, ADEARA, we also raised over $45,000 with some anonymous generous donations to support our work.
A Testimony of Recovery
With nearly 300 guests in attendance, it was an honour to begin our evening by sharing a special story about the challenges of addiction and being an overcomer of former resident, Tamara G. Tamara also blessed everyone with a hand-crafted, delicious, candy flower at every place setting. Truly a creative and courageous woman. She is now a mom working and volunteering, giving back and making a difference.
Highlights from the Evening of Dreams
- Our MC for the evening, Glori Meldrum, President of Little Warriors, graced us with inspiration and hope that our women are dear to her as many of them are ones who missed getting help from their trauma and abuse as children.
- Mark Evans, our Chairman of the Board, began with the history of our organization and the need for change and expansion. Addiction and trauma are indeed at epidemic proportions, but Mark encouraged those in attendance that change can happen. Adeara is embarking on a bold new community expansion project in association with the Salvation Army and Par Foundation. The project, called Carus, will be able to serve up to 50 women and 20 children in the future. More news will be coming down the pipeline soon (check future newsletters to hear more). Very exciting!
Revealing our New Name… Adeara
Over the past months, we’ve been working with the talents of g[squared] Marketing, where Glori, Gary, Terry, Gennelle, and their creative team assisted us in making our new identity, Adeara, become a reality. Terry Elkins, the Creative Director for g[squared], took the torch and shared the heart of Adeara’s new brand with the crowd. Their support of Adeara continues in new marketing avenues that will ensure and sustain future growth for us.
The evening was then blessed with an inspiring prayer with grace shared by Pastor Carmen Lynn from Great Church.
Special Thanks
We’d like to say a huge thank you to everyone who continued to make our event one to remember.
- Adeara was proud of our team and volunteers who worked so hard behind the scenes. Thank you also to Marleen Gray, our Program Director, and Bethany Zelent, our Communications Director, for sharing and educating everyone about addiction and its challenges and influences.
- Also, special thanks to the beautiful, brave women who shared how our program has impacted them, Amber, Danielle, Mavis and Tamara.
- Adeara would also like to thank and acknowledge Paul Doucette and his team for being great hosts and for an absolutely delicious meal enjoyed by all. As well, thank you to the talented Soap Box Duo who shared their gift of music for the evening.
- For our architectural renderings, thank you to PGA Architects, Chris Laing and Jaco Erwee for putting some of our ideas into perspective.
Adeara Door of Names
Thank you also to Nick Evans for graciously donating his time and talent to create for us our beautiful door. Many of our gala guests signed the door which will be hung in our new facility for all to enjoy!
To all the wonderful people and organizations in attendance at our gala, THANK YOU! The difference you’ve made will help women and children for years to come.