On Wednesday, June 24, we brought back one of our favourite events and hosted our 10th annual Night at the Races, and it could not have been more successful! We invited our clients to join us for an evening of fun, excitement and philanthropy at Woodbine Racetrack, where all proceeds from the night will be donated to charity. This year, we chose to fundraise for Smiles of Innocence, an organization dedicated to supporting the SickKids Foundation. It pursues and represents the concerns of The Hospital for Sick Children and the money we raised will directly go toward the purchase of necessary equipment.

We started the evening off with a cocktail mix and mingle. The horse races and dinner began at around the same time and throughout the entire night, Principal Nick Puopolo did a fantastic job of MC’ing. In addition to the races and casino at Woodbine Racetrack, every guest (with the exception of vendors and Salex team members) received a raffle ticket with their event cover for a chance to win one of many cool prizes, generously donated by Beghelli, WattStopper, Delta Light, Juno, Selux and Encelium.

We had over 170 guests in attendance and are proud to say that we raised $12,000 from the event! As promised, Salex will be matching the funds raised and Nick will personally be matching the funds as well, bringing the grand total raised from Night at the Races to an amazing $36,000! We have decided to put this money towards purchasing a bronchoscope, a piece of equipment used to examine a patient’s airways for abnormalities such as foreign bodies, tumors or inflammation. SickKids is currently in need of a 4.4mm bronchoscope – the one we will be donating our funds to – which is the only size scope that can perform biopsies in babies.

We would like to thank everyone who attended Night at the Races 2015 for making it a huge success. Not only did we host a terrific event for our clients and show them our appreciation, we were able to cumulatively raise enough money to make a difference in our community. From the 10 Night at the Races we have hosted since 2003, we have fundraised an astonishing total of $289,000 for various charities with the help of our clients. We’re looking forward to the next edition of Night at the Races, and we hope to see you all there again!

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