Only 25 tickets are left for the annual the Thompson Rivers University Williams Lake Annual Gala this Saturday, April 27.
Held every year in the TRU auditorium in Williams Lake, the gala was created as a fundraiser for scholarships and awards for lakecity students. Tickets for this formal event are $120 a person or $960 for a table of eight, which includes drinks, dinner and a dance. The theme this year is of a masquerade ball and all attendees are encouraged to dress semi-formal and wear a mask of some kind.
Gala chair and organizer Nancy Giesbrecht said the event has a capacity of 200, with around 175 seats sold so far. Since retiring, she’s enjoyed helping to raise money so that lakecity students get the chance to go on to higher education.
Read More: SLIDESHOW: TRU Gala supports students’ education
“We have a fancy dinner, we have a silent auction, we have a live auction and of course we got a great band, the Angela Hehr band coming up (from the lower mainland),” Giesbrecht said. “It’s a really nice gathering, a good group of people and we just raise lots of money for scholarships in Williams Lake.”
Each year she said they aim to raise around $25,000 by the time the night has done and to date have raised over $150,000 at all their previous galas. As they had a slight dip in numbers last year, she hopes the community comes out in force to support the event this year.
Giesbrecht added that the event is supported by the fundraising arm of TRU, TRU Grit, in Williams Lake who do various things to raise funds for lakecity scholars, trade students and the like. All of this is done to attract students to TRU and to keep them attending school in the Williams Lake campus and could not be possible without the consistent support of the community.
“(The gala) is just a wonderful opportunity to support our local youth, because the money does go to Williams Lake and area students who attend the local campus,” Giesbrecht said.
The event begins with a cocktail hour at 6 p.m. with dinner served at 7 p.m. followed by dancing at 9 p.m. until the night’s end. You can contact Giesbrecht at 250 302 1052 or Reta Langlands at 250 392 8048 or rlanglands@tru.ca for more information on ticket purchases.
patrick.davies@wltribune.com
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