Learning For Life Annual Ball, 16 October 2009
The L4life Annual Ball “Arabian Nights” ’09 was a huge
success....The Ball Committee thank all who
attended, or donated in lieu of attendance. Thanks to our wonderful hosts Tom
Gleisner and Fifi Box who continue to be wonderful
ambassadors and tireless supporters of The Learning for Life
Autism Centre.
We were greeted on arrival by belly dancers from Azura’s
Oasis who performed later in the evening too. They danced to
music performed by musicians from Drum Beats who later
wowed everyone with an interactive drumming/dancing show
that saw over 175 drums used all at once in the beautiful
Regal Ballroom. The Ballroom was stunning and the food,
service and ambience of the venue added to the Middle
Eastern flavour of the evening. We were also entertained by
dancers from Latitude Dance Company (pictured left) who
danced to “Arabian Nights” from Aladdin.
L4life raised $88,000 on the evening, with associated private
donations, which is incredible!! These funds will sustain a
number of families in 2010 in their programs for their kids.
Thankyou to our sponsors who, without their support, the success of our Annual Ball would not be possible:
GOLD SPONSOR - WCD Workers’ Compensation Solutions
SILVER - Bendigo Bank, Surrey Hills and Canterbury Branches
BRONZE - Pacific Network; Exhibitions and Events, Australia; GIO
SUPPORTERS- SNAP, Preston; Grant Design
Run Melbourne, 22 June 2009
Run Melbourne, presented by The Age, was another record breaking event raising more than $500,000 for a variety or causes and charities. With the incredible efforts of our Friends of Learning for Life and runners, including Karen and Richard Treagus, Jason McSpeerin, JP and Vikki we raised $4000 for our children and their families – THANKYOU so very much! For more information on this wonderful event, please go to www.runmelbourne.com.au
Hawthorn Community Chest Film Night
On the 23rd July, the Hawthorn Community Chest hosted a film night with all proceeds generously donated to L4Life. Thankyou to all who attended the evening, over 300 hundred- a wonderful community event.
For more information on the Hawthorn Community Chest initiatives.
Murray to Moyne Cycle Relay April 2009
On the 4-5th April, in reasonably tough conditions, hundreds of cycle teams traversed Victoria from north to south over 570km! All teams were raising money for health related charities across Victoria. Learning for Life were lucky to be represented by 2 ex-Olympic cyclists – the team leader being Michelle Ferris (dual Silver Olympic medalist). The team, also supporting M Power local disabilities service in Warrnambool, cycled from 10am – 3 am the next morning, taking turns to have 3 or more riders on the road at a time. The back up minibus, with support crew, were there with chocolate on hand! After a few hours rest in Hamilton, the team cycled on, arriving in Port fairy at 10:30 Sunday morning in the drizzling rain! The team raised $11,000 for Learning for Life and M Power which will support the programs run at our Centre and the local Warrnambool Group.
What a champion effort – thankyou to all of the team and to the Ferris Family!
One of the riders, Julie Speight, wrote an incredible and poignant letter telling her thoughts and feelings throughout the 24 hour ride …. Here is an excerpt
What I can tell you is that riding on behalf of Learning for Life was an amazing experience for us all. As a bit of an unlikely crew that met for the first time just a few hours before the event yet left Port Fairy 500km later as lifelong friends it appears that something magical can happen when you use your power (whatever that may be) for good.
During that last 60km into Port Fairy as the rain thrashed down relentlessly and I hung back off the fountain of water spraying up from the wheel in front of me, Jeanette’s words echoed in my rain drenched ears ‘we’re doing it for the kids’. It had taken almost 500km, no sleep and a total soaking to start to really get what that meant and to realise that I could do so much more. The symbolism of what we were doing and whom we were doing it for suddenly hit me harder than the rain. For example we were a team of nine riders amongst nearly 1500 riders, a percentage that mimics the one in 160 kids diagnosed with ASD, we were riding for 24 hours in various weather conditions with only two hours sleep and for the large part didn’t really know what lay ahead of us, which is an uncertainty that I imagine is something families of ASD kids experience as well. However the most poignant comparison for me was when we were two kilometres out from Port Fairy and we encouraged everyone to get out on the road so that we could ride in to Port Fairy together as a united team. I briefly spoke to Michelle about how weird it was to have ridden so far and gone through so much and yet not be gearing up for a big sprint finish; and that’s when the final and probably most symbolic point splashed upon me. You see as a competitive cyclist you don’t really mind going through the suffering of the race as long as there is a finish line and opportunity to win. It was then that I realised that the finish line for the families of kids with ASD and the kids is not a defined line, yet instead it’s an ongoing challenge with many small victories to be achieved along the journey. In the face of that challenge 500km seemed so small.
The Learning for Life Autism Centre and Hotel Shoppingtown
KWIZ FOR THE KIDZ 30TH March 2009
L4life patron and founder, Tom Gleisner, along with his Working Dog Colleagues (Jane Kennedy, Rob Sitch and Santo Cilauro) and friends helped out with a music trivia event on Monday March 30th, at Hotel Shoppingtown in Doncaster – to celebrate World Autism Awareness Day and help raise $20,000 for the Learning for Life Autism Centre!
Thankyou to our host Brian Nankervis, from Rockwiz, and special guests as “table captains” including Bill Shorten, Tony Martin, Glenn Robbins, Kate Ceberano, Hamish Blake, Wendy Stapleton, Cal Wilson, Mark Holden and Dennis Walter. Questions organised by Billy Pinnell (Rock Historian) and Jeff Jenkins (RockWiz).
Thankyou alsoe to all who came and to those who donated items. A special thanks to Hotel Shoppintown, Doncaster and Cones – Hawthorn for a fantastic venue and a great array of food and beverages!
Just a couple of photos to remind us of the wonderful evening…
Kate and Phil Cebrano, Trinity Grammars’ Tritone Jazz Group and Carneval Strings Quartet
LEADER BUSINESS AWARDS WINNER
(COMMUNITY SERVICES/NOT-FOR-PROFIT CATEGORY)
Learning for Life is proud to have been awarded Winner of the 2008 Boroondara Leader Business Achiever Awards, Category Community Services / Not For Profit.
Pictured here is Naomi Labrum (Program Director) and Rachel Larke (Program Supervisor) receiving the award at Septembers ceremony.
Thankyou to the supporters who nominated us for this wonderful award – we greatly appreciate this opportunity to raise the awareness of the plight of families with children diagnosed with ASD and the work we do to enhance their potential.
Las Vegas Annual Ball 2008
Thankyou to our sponsors and friends who suppported this year’s Annual Ball. An incredible array of Show Girls, Wedding Brides and Elvis Presleys and more came to help raise $85k - enabling us to continue to support 5 subsided children through our program. Thankyou also to Antony Woodley for acting as the Auctioneer for our main auction event – without his energy humour we would not have been able to achieve such a fantastic result. We also thank Ed Kavalee and Tom Gleisner for co-hosting the evening.
Photos to remember the evening
Run Melbourne, June 2008
Run Melbourne (22nd June 2008), presented by The Age, was one of Victoria’s major community fitness event where participants could choose their own challenge — 5km run/walk, 7.5km walk, 10km run or a half-marathon through the most picturesque parts of our city and sponsor a charity of their choice. Our patron Tom Gleisner, along with his family – brother Richard, wife Mary, sister-in-law Anne and his children – formed a team for The Learning for Life Autism Centre.
Richard Gleisner came 4th in the ½ marathon, with 72 minutes– beating his previous 2nd place time in 2007! All very impressive considering he achieved this with little sleep, due to baby Jack’s current sleeping patterns…..at 10 km, Richard was heard saying ‘I felt like falling asleep!’.
Tom Gleisner and Mary Muirhead achieved their goal of under the hour (58 minutes) for the 10km run, and their family finished the 5km run happily!
We all enjoyed the event despite the drizzle and the mud - the coffee, brekky and hot bath afterwards were very much savoured.
THANKYOU for supporting the Learning for Life Run Melbourne fund raising effort. Our team, with the help of 3 additional runners who nominated L4Life as their charity of choice, raised over $4000 – money that will go directly towards the childrens’ early intervention programs.
Without your sponsorship and support, we would have found it very difficult to get up on that Sunday morning – certainly the monies raised made it all worthwhile for us, our client families and their children.
MARKET & CAR BOOT SALE
Sunday April 20th 2008
Thankyou for your support for our Market and Car Boot sale. The weather was definitely in our favour and a lovely day was had by all. We are very pleased to announce that we raised $4,000 which will go directly towards the quality programs delivered to our children and their families.
Art Fund Raiser – 8 Feb 08
On the 8th February 2008, an exhibition titled “It must be LOVE?”was held at the Melbourne Art Rooms in Port Melbourne with all funds raised donated to the Learning for Life Autism Centre. The exhibition was a group show of 14 loving, touching, feeling, caressing talented contemporary artists exploring and questioning Valentines Day and love…Are the two in anyway connected?These inspiring artists have each embraced the topic so differently – it must be love…or is it….. with works by Jud Winhurst – (Flamin Guns), Meg Williams (portraits of Mr Potato Head seducing Barbie), Kate Spencer (installation of a Love Swan), Sue Pedley (photography), Bev Veasy (photography), Kate Jacobs (ceramics), Mike Nicolls (sculpture), John Scurry (paintings), Julie Irving (paintings), Annabelle Collette (installation of love books & kissing booth), Alan Jones (signs), Jessica Paige (textile red roses), Omega Goodwin (balloon installation), and Bexley Birrell (kissing cupies and angel ceramics)
We would like to thank the artists and all that joined us on the evening. We are thrilled to announce $2,500 was raised for the Learning for Life Autism Centre, with all funds contributing directly to the childrens’ programs.
3-Peaks Challenge – November 07
Support the 3-Peaks Challenge, and the Learning for Life Autism CentreThe Grove Roaders is a group of neighbourhood cyclists who courageously ventured into the Victorian Alps with their families, riding and trekking some of the tallest mountains in Australia - in fact 4,500 metres of mountain.
The 3-peaks Challenge was successfully held over the Melbourne Cup weekend in the
Victorian Alps. Apart from the difficulty of the mountain climbs and the challenge of
the weather (including rain, hail, sleet and, believe it or not .... snow) all 3 peaks and
all 5 challenges were successfully completed, with a total of $15,000 being raised for
the Learning for Life Autism Centre.
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Thanks from Learningforlife to all
the Grove Roaders who
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Friday Night Fever – 2007 Annual Ball was a huge success! |
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As a result of the efforts of our Sponsors, our team and all of you who attended and contributed to such a successful evening, we have been able to offer 2 additional subsidized positions for children requiring our program. THANKYOU! more... |
Dancing with the Stars - 2007 |
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 | Radio and TV personality Fifi Box has proven a wonderful ambassador for “Learning for Life Autism Centre”, as it represents a cause close to her heart.
Fifi was instrumental in raising the awareness of the issues facing children with autism and their families, coming an incredible second place in the recent Dancing with the Stars series, nominating “Learning for Life Autism Centre” as the charity of her choice. |