I’m very grateful to be invited back to the annual Chinatown Foundation’s autumn gala. It’s their 10th year! Big thanks to Chuck We, Executive Vice President, Pacific Northwest Canada for Hudson Pacific Properties. It’s not often that you get to dress up in Vancouver and for a good cause too, and this annual gala is one of those rare opportunities. Hosted at Vancouver’s Fairmont, this gala event hosted 800 people under one roof and collectively, the community came together and raised over 2 million dollars! (exact figure to be confirmed!). What an amazing outpour of generosity, kindness and love for the Chinatown community. The fund will be used to help continue the revitalization of Chinatown such as housing, cultural and heritage revitalization and preservation and small business support.
Although I grew up in Toronto, my ties to Chinatowns in general runs deep in my blood and I’m just very grateful to have been part of the event last week. It was also a very nice surprise to see my former boss from days at Rethink, Tom Shepansky on stage. I had a great time catching up with him and other OG admen, Jim and Andrea Southcott.
It was also great to see BCs new premier Lorne Doerkson and Vancouver’s new mayor, Pete Fry make an appearance.
