It's been a particularly busy few weeks at UHN Foundation with the successful staging of two major fundraising events: the 11th annual
Diwali – A Night to Shine and the 19th annual Grand Cru Culinary Wine Festival.
Together, the events raised more than $6.5 million in support of programs at UHN.
"We are overwhelmed by the incredible generosity of our donors, supporters and volunteers who help make these events successful," says Julie Quenneville, CEO of UHN Foundation.
"The funds raised through events such as Diwali and Grand Cru will help UHN maintain its position as the number one hospital in Canada and – more importantly, enable UHN's world-leading clinicians and scientists to make an impact on our local and global community."
This past weekend, UHN Foundation hosted the 19th annual Grand Cru Culinary Wine Festival, which raised more than $5 million to support groundbreaking medical research and innovations across brain, diabetes, regenerative medicine, surgery and vision at UHN.
Grand Cru Culinary Wine Festival is a two-day event uniting esteemed chefs and wine producers from Toronto and around the world with the brightest minds in medical research to support UHN's world-leading programs. The event features a series of private dinners in homes across Toronto and a live auction.
The largest event of its kind, Grand Cru is the top fundraising food and wine festival in the world, and has raised more than $132 million in support of research at UHN since its inception.
Opening night, Friday, Oct. 27, hosted at the iconic Casa Loma in Toronto, was the live auction portion of the weekend, which raised more than $1 million.
On night two, Saturday, Oct. 28, 14 private homes across Toronto opened their doors for invitation-only private dining experiences with some of the world's most esteemed chefs. These included multi-Michelin-starred Daniel Boulud (Daniel) and Emmanuel Renaut (Flocons de Sel); Melissa Rodriguez (Al Coro), the first woman at the helm of a restaurant awarded four stars by the
New York Times; and Toronto culinary masters Eron Novalski (Aria Ristorante), Sash Simpson (Sash) and many more.
Each unique five-star menu was custom-designed to pair with fine wines selected by international wine producers.
Learn more here.
Two weeks earlier, on Saturday, Oct. 14, UHN Foundation hosted the 11th annual
Diwali – A Night to Shine, presented by Scotiabank, in support of Toronto Rehab. This spectacular event was attended by more than 560 guests and raised more than $1.5 million for world-leading rehabilitation care and research.
Guests enjoyed a one-of-a-kind experience to celebrate India's culture, traditions and legacy through music, food and entertainment, while learning about the impact of their support on Toronto Rehab.
The evening featured a carefully curated selection of traditional Indian food and dance performances by Bollywood Dance School Canada. A highlight of the night was the screening of a
video featuring the inspiring story of Dr. Alex Mihailidis, who used his own personal rehabilitation experience to deepen his own work as a Senior Scientist at UHN's KITE Research Institute.
Since its inception in 2011,
Diwali – A Night to Shine, has raised more than $13 million for programs at UHN and is the most notable Diwali celebration in Toronto.
Learn more here.
Thank
you to the sponsors, donors, hosts, guests, entertainment, chefs, wine producers, volunteers and staff who made these two events such a success!
