Wow! What a night! Great company, fine dining, excellent live music, tasty wine and an amazing selection of items that did incredibly well on auction. That almost sums up the IWAK Charity Masquerade Ball held at the Sheraton Grand in December.
Thanks to our sponsors, guests, and hard-working Committee, we managed to raise the impressive amount of 35,000 PLN for our charity goal this year, which is to purchase foldout beds for the parents of children hospitalised at the University Children’s Hospital in Kraków-Prokocim, the largest children’s hospital this side of Poland. Our special guest of the evening was Mr Bartłomiej Pawlak, who represents the hospital’s charity organisation we are cooperating with – O Zdrowie Dziecka (For the Health of the Child), who spoke briefly about the work and challenges of the foundation.
Our guests ate, mingled and danced to a live Latino band amidst impressive Venetian scenery, showing off their gorgeous masks, as well as participating in a fun bachata lesson. Everyone had the chance to enjoy a professional photo session in a gondola moored in front of the Venetian Rialto! The live auction was a hit, led by the talented and ever-energetic Simon Kirby, his sister Laura – who flew in for the night especially from London – and Markus Mueller. Hot items were up for grabs, such as a tandem skydive, scenic helicopter flight, luxurious spa treatments, soft leather handmade handbag, and farm stays in the Polish and Belgian countryside!
Prizes were awarded for best mask and highest bidder – a massage voucher and a personal training voucher worth hundreds of zlotys, thanks to our generous sponsors! The raffle featured over two dozen prizes.
During the night our guests could also browse and bid on a wide array of lovely silent auction items, such as regional baskets filled with delicacies and liquors from around the world – we thank our IWAK members for providing us with these beautiful and delicious items! There was also a collector’s signed Wisła football t-shirt, spa and personal training vouchers, a breath-taking photograph of Kraków, voucher for a guided tour of our city, and more!
We loved hosting you all and trust our guests had at least as good a time as we did. Thank you for contributing to the amazing success of this evening, which means that several dozen parents will no longer have to sleep on chairs or on the floor under their children’s beds, and will be that much more rested to deal with the challenge of supporting their hospitalised child. Our contribution, added to the amount the hospital has collected, will purchase 200 of the necessary beds for several wards!
Anna Meysztowicz
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