Cattherine House On May 20th, we celebrated Catherine House's 35th Anniversary, holding our Gala Dinner at the Adelaide Convention Centre, with 530 guests in attendance. This was the largest fundraising event Catherine House has held in its proud 35-year history and a wonderful opportunity to honour the journey of so many women who have so bravely walked through our doors throughout that time. We were honoured to hear from two remarkable guest speakers, the Honourable Peter Malinauskas MP, Premier of South Australia, as well as Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong, who spoke about the current climate of homelessness in South Australia and the work necessary to improve lives for those experiencing this devastating reality each day.
Our Gala Dinner event aimed to raise much-needed funds for our Crisis Accommodation Service , a program that has been providing support to South Australian women for the past 35 years.
The evening concluded with guests dancing the night away, as previous Catherine House client and award-winning DJ Tania Smith of Choonz and Moovs had everyone on the dancefloor for a magical ending to the night. As a final sweet note, guests took home a Kytons Lamington, kindly donated by Sharon and Darren of Kytons Bakery. Guests enjoyed watching the live auction by Auctioneer Bronte Manuel of Toop and Toop. Many generously participated, resulting an astounding $130,000 raised. A truly jaw-dropping moment occurred when 20 supporters - individuals and businesses - stood up and pledged to donate $5,000 to support the kitchen in our Crisis Accommodation Service - a collective $100,000. It was an incredible symbol of our community standing up for women. The room was profoundly silent when our host, Journalist and Author Laine Anderson, interviewed Catherine House client, Sonia. Sonia bravely shared her story with the room, providing the audience with an intimate understanding of the effects of domestic and family violence and homelessness on her life. We thank Sonia for having the courage to share her story.
THE EVENING WAS HOSTED BY THE WONDERFUL LAINE ANDERSON, AND THE THRILLING LIVE AUCTION WAS CONDUCTED BY BRONTE MANUEL.
PAGE 06 | CATHERINE HOUSE CONNECTIONS NEWSLETTER | 35TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION
Made with FlippingBook Digital Publishing Software