Join us for an enchanting evening at Oheka Castle
The Angela’s House “A Night for a Cure” was held on November 19, 2009. This successful event is another way Angela’s House tries to help families that have children living with rare diseases and illness. The focus of this event was to both raise money and awareness for these diseases. The event was held at Oheka Castle, where their staff created an enchanting evening. The three hundred guests enjoyed the run of the entire first floor of the castle. Their Library was setup with a wine bar and relaxing area to sit and talk. It had poster boards made for each disease and illness the event was sponsoring. These boards were made by the Wheatley High School students of Old Westbury. The beautiful Grand Ball Room was filled with over one hundred large baskets. The parents and generous patrons in the community donated the baskets to create a wonderful Chinese auction. The exquisite baskets were created by the Mary Johnson and Linda Gladd. We also had a small group from the Hauppauge High School’s Orchestra, called Select Strings that was led by their teacher Mrs. Leah Paese. The students played during the cocktail hour filling the room with beautiful music. The guests were very impressed as they walked into this room and saw all of the beautiful baskets and heard the talented students play. Outside this room was the bar, which had a very impressive setup of silent and live auction items, that were donated. Colleen Kunkel and Barbara Squillacioti setup these impressive items such as tickets to shows, sporting events and more.
We also had a large group of volunteers from Hauppauge High School that assisted our guests all night. Our guests were escorted by them into the castle from their cars. During the cocktail hour, the student volunteers served the hors d’oeuvres. They also helped by selling raffle tickets for the Chinese auction. Oheka Castle staff and the student volunteers did everything possible to make the evening special for our guests. As the cocktail hour came to a close, the guests then went into the formal dinning room to be served dinner. Once the food was served, guests went into the Terrace room. The room looked great with the tables decorated with floral arrangements donated by Glamorous Affairs by Felicia and candles donated by BDK Promotional Products . Bob Policastro from Angela’s House spoke of the importance of this evening, thanking the friends and supporters of each of the diseases represented by this event.
The Hauppauge High School students did a presentation where they told short stories of how they feel dealing with fellow students, friends and siblings that have one of these diseases or illnesses. One student spoke about his life as a sibling and how it has made him a better person. The stories then changed to short clips reflecting on some recent news about the advances in research. The students excitedly expressed how we have seen some breakthroughs, but we still have a long way to go. Following the presentation, Marissa Makram, event co-chair, introduced three groups for their efforts in raising money and awareness for childhood diseases. The Hauppauge High School, represented by teacher Doreen Gordon, did a fundraiser called “Hands for a Cure” where they sold hand cutouts that were taped to a wall in the hallway to support research of childhood diseases. The school’s soccer program did a homecoming/fundraising night with an event that included two soccer games called “Kicks for Cancer”. This event is in its second year inspired by the students and girls soccer coach, Jessica Kulesa, in honor of a beloved student Courtney Tomkin.
The Hauppauge Middle School was very creative as they held an event called “Cars for a Cure”. The students were guided in this event by the Assistant Principal, Joy Ferraro, with a classic car show, vendor fair and kids play area.
The challenge was then presented to the guests to get more communities involved with awareness and fundraising activities for the research of these childhood diseases. When the presentation was over, our sponsor and DJ, Above & Beyond Entertainment, had the guests hit the dance floor.
The overall support for this event was exciting to see. The families with children afflicted with one of these childhood illnesses we supported expressed their sincere thanks for all the good will and generosity in helping to make “A Night for a Cure” a success. This event helps to give families some encouragement as they live with these childhood diseases.
Please support our event sponsors:
Glamorous Affairs by Felicia
www.glamorousaffairs.com
Above & Beyond EntertainmentPhotographyVideo
www.abdj.net
BDK Promotional Products Inc.
www.bdkpromoproducts.com
