Page 238 - Week 01 - Wednesday, 16 February 2011
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Local Canberra district wineries, together with many Canberra businesses, combined to donate their goods and services to make the event a successful money-raiser for the flood victims. It was organised by Michael Tabart from the ACT Wine Industry Network and Gab Saccardo, owner of La Scala Italian restaurant. The money raised will go specifically to the people of Grantham in Mr Buchholz’s electorate.
Mr Tabart and Gab Saccardo said that they, like so many Canberra people, had been particularly touched by the heartbreaking events in this part of Queensland and they wanted the moneys raised to help a specific person or persons or project in this area. Mr Tabart’s own family was personally caught up in the Toowoomba floodwaters—his mother-in-law in the deluge, his brother-in-law swept off the range on the way driving to Brisbane and missing for 48 hours and other numerous relatives affected by Brisbane’s and Rockhampton’s floodwaters. To quote Mr Tabart:
Putting something together to initially raise $1000-$1500 was our modest aim, but the event snowballed through the generosity of Canberra businesses and specifically the district’s wineries.
While final moneys are currently being counted, it is anticipated that a cheque for $40,000 will be ready for handover later this week. He continues:
The $40,000.00 represents monies from the Dinner/Auction, our January Wine Warehouse Sale and a Sunday morning Brunch.
Mr Tabart goes on to say:
We are still being approached with items to Auction and hope to present these to the Federal Member for Wright to take back to his electorate for further fundraising.
Mr Tabart and Mr Saccardo would like to express their appreciation for the support they have received from so many businesses and individuals. In particular, Atlantis Logistics was responsible for arranging the attendance of Sir Ian Botham, Stuart MacGill and Brendan Jones at no cost. The Realm supplied accommodation. The Canberra Times and Westpac Bank each contributed so much, while local businessmen Craig Miller, Richard Tindale and George Panagakis were extremely generous with donations and purchases.
The evening would not have been complete without the fantastic support of local radio station 2CA and the wonderful MCs for the evening, Greg “Robo” Robson and Angie Clairvoyant, and auctioneer Richard Keeley from Luton Properties. A full coverage of photographs appeared in Sunday’s Canberra Times and supplementary photos were taken by Ray Lalic of Blue Property Marketing.
I would like to conclude by saying what a sensational event it was. It raised far more than was expected. It showed the generosity of a lot of people. Individuals, ordinary Canberrans, came along and some parts of the business community were very generous with their donations and with buying auction items. In fact, one very generous individual purchased a bottle of wine for around $2,000 and then donated it
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