VL Travel raises over $33,500 for Hear and Say.

Nic  Rone and his team from VLTravel joined forces for the second year running with Gold Coast Hear and Say Centre to raise much needed funds for deaf children. 

Saturday 13th November saw over 250 guests don their best gear and head for Jupiters Hotel & Casino where the ballroom had been transformed into the colourful delights of the Rio Carnival.  

In true Rio Carnival style guests joined in the conga line as they danced to the drum beat of Brazilian dancers Bahia Alegria. 

Hear and Say graduate and cochlear implant recipient, 13 year old Zoe Seitz was the special guest speaker for the evening.  Zoe spoke of how her journey into the hearing world has given her the opportunity to dream with unlimited hope that her future will be just as bright as that of a hearing child.  She moved many to tears, including her mum who watched very proudly from the back of the room.

The live auctions of the night were a hit.  Auctioneer Mark MacCabe got the crowd bidding to excess over a stunning pair of diamond earrings, kindly donated by 5th Avenue Jewellers and on a 5 day holiday to any Club Med destination in SE Asia. 

Travelscene American Express also returned to support the event this year, by donating the major raffle prize of a trip for 2 to Singapore.  The raffle alone raised over $3000!

If all the colour of the Rio Carnival themed room & dancers was not enough, a little bit of extra sparkle and bling could be seen on a few lucky female guests as Neil Bradshaw of House of Kraftwerkz allowed them to wear thousands of dollars in exquisite handcrafted jewellery.

Joining VL Travel this year as a sponsor was Andrew Federowsky and his team from Bartercard South Gold Coast.  Over 120 bartercard guests kicked up their heels as they used the event for an early Christmas celebration. 

It was also a wonderful opportunity for Hear and Say to reach out to a new audience and let them know of the life changing work we achieve every day bringing sound and speech into the lives of deaf children.

Both Nic Rone of VLTravel and Andrew Federowsky of Bartercard have confirmed their support for a 2011 event.  The event will be held in November 2011, and as soon a date has been confirmed we will let you know.

On behalf of the Hear and Say we would like to extend our warmest thanks to all who attended the ball and also to our major sponsors, who without them we would not have an event.  VL TRAVEL, BARTERCARD, CLUB MED, TRAVELSCENE AMERICAN EXPRESS, KONICA MINOLTA.