| | Gala Brings in a Cool Million in Minneapolis
December 13, 2007
Mort and Alice Mortenson get caught up in live auction excitement. |
Minnesota is famous for its cold weather, but hearts were warmed by the fellowship and good will generated at the Minnesota Chapter's Mortenson Construction Breath of Life Gala. Held at the Hyatt Minneapolis on November 10, 2007, the gala attracted 760 enthusiastic guests and raised a million dollars in support of the CF Foundation.
After a delicious sit-down dinner, the Foundation honored corporate sponsor Mortenson Construction as Corporate Friend of the Foundation and Janie and Craig Norby as Angela Warner Friend of the Foundation for their outstanding contributions in the fight against CF.
The exciting live auction generated an audible “Awww” from the crowd when an adorable six-week-old yellow Labrador puppy sold for $60,000. Another hotly contested item—the chance to be the superintendent for a day of the new Minnesota Twins baseball stadium—sold for $7,000.
Later in the evening, guests were visibly moved by “Mission Moments,” a video showing the everyday lives of local CF kids, and by the Bid for a Cure speech by Regina Schewe, a CF Foundation major gifts director, who described the promising new scientific developments occurring today in CF research. “These developments are only possible because of the support of all of you in this room,” she said. “Minnesota is consistently one of our top producers in terms of scientific advancements, outstanding care, dollars donated for research and incredible volunteers.”
Nobody could have clapped harder than the 200 people from GREAT STRIDES “Team Max” when seven-year-old Max Norby, who has CF, and his brother Justin, announced a breathtaking $300,000 match for Bid for a Cure from an anonymous donor.
Event chairs Jackie and Keith Peterson said, “As parents of a child with CF, our hearts were warmed by the overwhelming generosity of those in attendance at the Breath of Life Gala. They are helping to turn this disease from one of tragedy to one of hope.”
Special thanks go to corporate sponsors Mortenson Construction, Parsons Electric, Egan Companies, MetroConnections and RespirTech.
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