Keall Foundation Project Tunisia Live Blog

I have found my way to the auto/ONE Trunk Gallery located on 3rd Ave between Pine and Burrard and now have internet access thanks to Cecilia and her dedicated IT guy who took my call.

The gallery is actually a car dealership (talk about fusion) with white leather couches, ambient music, and cars so shiny you can fix your hair by glancing at your reflection on the hood. Tonight I have been asked to live blog the Keall Foundation’s Project Tunisia fundraiser. There are about 50 silent auction items ranging from Spruce Body Lab gift certificates, a Roxy luggage set, and bottles of wine.

[Janet Keall] is back from Romania and Nicaragua and will pay it back once again to the babies housed in 17 abandoned baby centres throughout Tunisia, North Africa. She has partnered with a local Tunisian organization, Act Dev to achieve this goal.

If you are able, stop by the gallery tonight to bid on any of these items, enter the raffle, have a consultation with Skoah skin care professionals, have a cupcake and support this worthy cause.

100% of the silent auction proceeds will benefit these orphaned babies to make a considerable difference in these lives that never chose to be orphaned and unwanted. Together we will supply them with sustainable solutions and the basic comfort of full stomachs; clothed bottoms and printed caregiver reference guides for all workers at centres and Tunisian Orphanages.

I’ll be providing updates throughout the evening as there are several activities planned until 10:00pm tonight.

Update: Janet just stopped by to say hello to me and thank me for being here. She is such a genuine person whose foundation is doing so much great work for children across the globe, it’s pretty much an honor for me to be here covering this event.

Update: When you walk into the event you can enter your business card into a draw to win a 40 inch LCD TV, and the bar (by donation) is immediately to your right. Janet mentioned some big names that may be dropping by later so I’ll have to get up from my perch and mingle a bit once things get underway.

Update: Lorne Mayencourt just introduced Janet and gave us all a bit of background about her life and her mission for this cause. She was left on a doorstep as a baby, only hours old, and has now created this foundation to help children all over the world. “By the time I finish this talk, 20 more children will be abandoned.”

Janet will be leaving for Tunisia next week to visit the 17 centres that the foundation will be supporting through its efforts (and through events like tonight). “When she first showed up they were amazed that anyone even cared.” Janet then gave a quick speech and although she was almost too moved for words, she was still able to point out her doting parents who were present tonight.

“I will be arriving in the capital city Tunis, and driving 4 hours to Kairouan, which has a population of about 120,000 and is one of the holiest cities in Islam. Founded in the late seventh century, it is the oldest Islamic settlement in Tunisia, and has the oldest mosque in North Africa, with the world’s oldest minaret.

Kairouan currently looks after 18 abandoned babies in only 2 bedrooms. Space is very limited as you can imagine. By the time I arrive they should have moved to a newly built centre that will look after 25 babies as well as having many facilities for mothers to stay over and spend time/look after their babies.”

She also announced that she will be blogging about her experience in Tunisia over on the Keall Foundation website.

The evening will be coming to an end within the hour and we’ll soon have the raffle and door prize draw. I have managed to hold off on the cupcakes and my National Digital Media Day has finally come to a close. Thank you to everyone who hosted us, blogged with us, and celebrated the medium today – and a big thanks to the Keall Foundation for the wonderful work that they do.