News

ALS, commonly known as Lou Gehrig's disease, can affect anyone and unfortunately it has touched one of our dearest Eastbourne friends. With the help of many Keats Islanders, Dave and Lisa Richardson (formerly Nilsson) were able to again host a wonderful fundraiser and bring some awareness of the illness to Keats Island . The 2nd Annual Keats Island ALS Fundraiser was held on the August long weekend and it was an overwhelming success! Keats Islanders have gotten behind this event and we are proud to announce that this year's event raised over $7,000.00!

The evening was a lot of fun with music, food, drinks and friends, all coming together to raise funds for a good cause. Danny's singing was again a crowd favourite, and the atmosphere was festive and lively. It was fantastic to see everyone out enjoying the music, and as always it is amazing to see how much talent we have on our small island. The weather was beautiful and the support and generosity of our small community was heart-warming.

There were many people who made this event a success including Danny Shanks who has been the visionary and entertainment headliner for this event for the last two years. Big thanks to Sharon and Ted Romanivich, Jackie and Glen Young, and all of those who helped with the planning and execution of the event. We would like to thank Eleanor Dick for donating the beautiful homemade quilt that was raffled off. Thank you to Tattianna and Lee for helping with the BBQ, and to all of those who donated the yummy items to the bake sale. We would also like to express our appreciation to Bob and Kelly Gibney for donating their beautiful property as the venue for the event for a second year in a row.

A big thank you to all of those who donated items for our silent auction; this year we raised over $3,600 from the silent auction alone! We were amazed at the quantity and quality of the donations we received from Keats islanders; there were people dropping off items at the Nilsson's house and at the event location all day long. We had new islanders who had just heard about the event, coming and donating items and many amazing artists were very generous in sharing their work with us. The local craft and art items were a HUGE hit with bidders!

Finally, we would like to extend a thank you to all of those who attended the event and made it so enjoyable. The support and generosity of the community is what makes the Keats ALS Fundraiser a success.

The money from this event will be donated to the Nilsson Foundation. This foundation has been formed to support research to find a cure for ALS and to provide local patient services for those who live with the disease. The Nilsson Foundation is a registered federal charity that has raised over $275,000 for ALS research and patient services.

Again, our sincere thanks go to everyone who helped with this year's event.

More information on ALS and The ALS Adventure Challenge (one of the big annual fundraisers put on by the Nilsson Foundation) can be obtained at www.ALSadventure.com or www.alsbc.ca.

- Jen Kardynal, Board Member of the Nilsson Foundation