What do you do when, four
months out, you discover that the only booking available for your fundraiser on
August 16 clashes with a major Rugby Championship 2014 game between the New
Zealand All Blacks and Australia’s Wallabies?
Well you create a themed supporting
event too good to be missed, invite Rotarians and members of the public, and
promise to get everyone home in time for the live TV broadcast from ANZ Stadium
in Sydney. That was the Rotary Club of Pakuranga’s solution to the
problem, and it resulted in their trivia quiz and auction evening being a huge
success. The event was noisy, loud and colourful in a room filled with laughter
and happy banter.
With Variety, the
Children’s Charity as their chosen charity partner, the Rotary club had secured
a wide range of auction items, ranging from working a Ports of Auckland
straddle crane to a Gold Coast apartment holiday. Eighty five percent of the
250 tickets sold were to non-Rotarians, with the tables of 10 asked to dress in
a theme. There were sporting teams, pirates, trollops, tramps, biker gangs,
road workers, election parties and many more.
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| Television celebrity Shane Cortese shares a moment with Philippa and her mum Denise Loseby. |
Several television
celebrities joined in with actor, comedian, entertainer and raconteur Mark Wright, who was
dressed as former rugby union
footballer and coach Alex "Grizz"
Wyllie, officiating as both quiz master and auctioneer. His first task was to
auction actor Shane Cortese, who is known
for his television roles in Shortland Street, Outrageous Fortune and Nothing Trivial, and his dancing prowess
on Dancing With the Stars
(NZ), to join a table to assist with a quiz round. With a whistle, yellow
cards, stock whip and smoking hand gun, Mark kept the fans in order while he
extracted valuable dollars for a local decile one school (that is in the 10 per cent of schools with the highest proportion of
students from low socio-economic communities) and other youth initiatives
in the area. A profit of over $20,000 was made, with many tables asking
to be contacted for next year’s event.
So, don’t let a clash with
another function put you off. You know the old saying… “if you can’t beat
‘em, join ‘em.”
