For years, the Rotary Club of Tortola’s Grand Affair has raised about $130,000, but this year the event raised more than twice that much.
The target was $200,000, said Gerard Farara, who led the committee that organised the club’s biggest annual event at Government House on Feb. 28.
With both live and silent auctions, as well as ticket sales and donations, the club raised a total of $342,000, the organiser told Rotarians last Thursday during the club’s weekly meeting at The Moorings.
“This year’s Grand Affair surpassed every previous Grand Affair by far,” Mr. Farara said, adding that the club received around $190,000 in donations before the event. “It was a fabulous evening, putting it mildly and conservatively.”
Though it rained briefly during the event, attendees had a good time, the organiser added.
“Government House had never looked so good for the Grand Affair,” Mr. Farara said.
The event also featured entertainment by performers including members of the BVI Filipino Association.
Part of the funds received at the event will go towards furnishing the neo-natal ward at Peebles Hospital, according to Lorna Smith, a member of the Grand Affair organising committee.
The territory’s youth will also benefit, Ms. Smith said.
“We are going to be building a youth centre modelled off the Youth Empowerment Programme [in East End],” Ms. Smith said, adding that the facility will be erected in Purcell Estate.
Part of the proceeds will also be used to continue the club’s teen pregnancy prevention programme, “Baby Think It Over,” the organiser said.
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