On Monday August 8th, Curtis' fundraiser took place at O'Connor's Irish Pub at the Kanata Centrum. The evening consisted of a buffet style dinner, live and silent auctions hosted by Mauler and Laura from The Morning Hot Tub on Hot 89.9 and live music from the Eric Eggleston Band and was a huge success, raising over $20,000 for Curtis! 290 people filled O'Connor's for the dinner and even more for the auction and there was standing room only. Julie and I are so grateful to everyone involved. A ton of hard work and planning went into this fundraiser. Our close friend Tammy Schofield who was the driving force behind the event deserves a lot of credit for making it a success as well as many, many other friends, family and volunteers who also devoted their time.

It was a very emotional night for Julie and I. There were many moments throughout the night that touched down to the core of our souls by the generosity shown. Kim and Paul Carswell, who's daughter Tori also battled neuroblastoma were there. Just seeing them brought me to be brink of tears because I know what they've been through. They donated two tickets to the upcoming Rolling Stones concert for the auction and then outbid everyone on the very tickets they donated to raise a lot of money for us. Another couple spontaneously donated their U2 tickets for the auction. These two incredible acts of kindness really highlighted the night. Of course seeing all of our friends, family, neighbors and many, many people who we do not even know present and rallying around us touched our hearts like never before.

We would also like to thank O'Connors for hosting the event, Brian Houle from Memories2dvd for putting together the amazing slideshow of Curtis that played on all the TVs that evening, the Eric Eggleston Band for providing the fantasic live music, the very funny Mauler and Laura from Hot 89.9 for running an entertaining live auction, CJOH and the A-Channel for their TV coverage of the event, the Ottawa Senators Foundation for presenting Curtis with the autographed jersey and making a generous donation, all the sponsors who donated items, and our very great friend James Skinner for capturing all the great photos of the evening below.