CHILDREN’S AID FOUNDATION – TEDDY BEAR AFFAIR GALA

Main Services: Event Design & Management | Live Event Production

Always Included: Experience Design | Project Management | Program Strategy | Creative Strategy | Health & Safety

Key Elements: Entertainment Management | Food & Beverage Management | Fundraising Management

For 29 years, Teddy has travelled the world. He’s been to London and sipped tea with the Queen, he’s lived “la dolce vita” in Rome and he’s suntanned on the beaches of California. In 2015, Teddy came home.

Over 800 guests gathered for a celebration rooted in the cause itself. Our goal was to develop a strategic, informative and engaging entertainment program that honours everything that the Children’s Aid Foundation represents. Ultimately, the gala supported the thousands of children and youth living in Canada’s welfare system.

The Experience

At the event, Olympian Jon Montgomery, our fearless host for the evening, led guests through the inspiring life stories of four Children’s Aid Foundation Youth Ambassadors. To honour their stories, we wanted to create a moment on stage where the Youth Ambassadors spoke directly to the guests from a stage in the round. To enhance the youth’s scripting, a local children’s choir accompanied them while each ambassador took turns sharing their own story.

During this moment the notoriously rambunctious crowd was silent. People’s lives were changed on this special night and during an impromptu and completely unscripted moment, one guest asked to take the stage to share his own story. For the first time ever in public he shared his experience of a life in care, the Children’s Aid Foundation also helped him decades ago.

Another event element came together once all of the fundraising was finished. The grand finale was truly a moment to celebrate and it was our gift back to the audience for their generous support and dedication to the cause. When the moment came, guests were treated to a live performance by solo artist Selena Evangeline, accompanied by renowned singer Jackie Richardson, a twelve person gospel choir and the soul-inspiring addition of a 140 person strong choir comprised of members of the George Randolph Academy for the Performing Arts. The selected song was “Higher and Higher” by Jackie Wilson.

Guests were on their feet and the event transitioned into the after-party mode with a live dance band. Teddy was home!
Whizbang Moment

As a special note, two weeks before event day, our team got a call from the administration department of the George Randolph Academy for the Performing Arts. The academy offered to include the entire student body into the finale performance. This meant the total number of choir performers alone catapulted from 20 to 140. The production team decided to embrace this offer and immediately reworked staging and sound positions to make the finale truly larger than life. This would not have been possible without the expert support of the production team and the incomparable leadership of our musical director.