Last Friday’s Black Tie and Boardies themed ball at Middleton has raised $22,000 for the Fleurieu Cancer Support Foundation.

Organiser Jenifer Watts said the committee was rapt with the result.

“The ball was fabulous; we never expected that we would raise that much, we hoped for $10,000,” she says.

“It was difficult to gauge as we couldn’t advertise due to COVID, and we could only have a certain amount of tickets. When we realized we were going to reach $10,000, we decided to aim for $15,000 and then that turned into $22,000.”

Jen says the committee didn’t expect to reach the heights of last year’s inaugural ball, which raised $43,000 for the victims of the Kangaroo Island bushfires and the recovery process.

“Last year was very special, the bushfires were very emotive,” she says.

In terms of what the cancer support foundation will put this year’s fundraising effort towards, Jen, who is a volunteer driver for the organisation, said that was up to the foundation and its board.

“But fuel is one of the big costs -- the organisation has two eight-seater buses and a hybrid car to run, as well as support group, rent, and the expense of Carrickalinga House, which is essentially a drop-in centre run by volunteers, some of whom have experienced cancer firsthand themselves,” she says.

The three vehicles travel daily to Adelaide, transporting clients to respective cancer treatments.

The money has already been transferred through to the foundation’s bank account.

“I just wanted to do something more to help get some money in that account after donations were impacted by COVID last year,” Jen says.

“The generosity of the south coast deserves a huge mention, the food was all donated, along with the wine and beer.”

Jen says as per last year’s inaugural event, the dress code ‘black tie and boardies’ was fully embraced.

“The women looked great, I personally had on white boardies and a nice shirt,” she says.

“And the men looked spectacular.

“We didn’t have a best dressed competition but I certainly know of about half a dozen people that I couldn’t have awarded a prize too.”

During the evening, people aged 18 to 80 years grooved along to live band, the Flaming Sambuccas.

“It was a really good, solid effort from the south coast and there were really two elements of the ball,” Jen says.

“The first one was raising money, but also the number of people who came, and were laughing, carrying on, having fun with friends and new friends, was amazing.

“To have the Pioneer Hall absolutely rocking, for a little town like Middleton, was huge.”

For more information, to donate to Fleurieu Cancer Support Foundation, or to find out about volunteering, visit https://fleurieucsf.wixsite.com/fcsf or call 8552 9304 between 10am to 4pm, Monday to Friday.

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