Photo Album: Washington City Mission Fall Gala
Living statues Laura Goris, Hector Santos and Taryn Frey Misner
Gunnery Sergeant Patrick Gartland, City Mission President/CEO Dean Gartland
State Senator Camera Bartolotta with a guest
Bob & Electa Winters, Brenda & Dave Tenison
City Mission hosted its first fall gala at the brand-new Noah’s Event Venue in Southpointe to support its life-transforming programs. “We worked hard to raise the bar on our fall gala,” says Dr. Sally Mounts, City Mission’s Chief Development Officer. “And I think it proved to be a spectacular evening.”
A spectacular evening indeed. This year’s gala theme was Escape to Santorini – Santorini is a Greek island in the Aegean Sea known for its breathtaking natural beauty and spectacular sunsets. With living statues, authentic live music and dancers, artists creating before guests’ eyes in an open-air marketplace, and a strolling dinner of Greek cuisine, this event really captured the energy and excitement of the island. Attire was black-tie optional, and many of the 200 guests dressed in hues of blue to carry out the theme.
With an overall success rate of 65 percent for residents who stay at least 90 days and a proven track record of removing barriers and changing lives, City Mission is one of the most comprehensive and effective recovery programs in the area. City Mission is a place where stories of tragedy are rewritten every day into stories of transformation and hope. With an emerging Career Training and Education program, a brand new Veterans’ facility, a newly-expanded Women with Children Center, and an overall 45 percent increase in capacity, City Mission is helping more people in more ways than ever before. As the Mission grows, they continue to need support from the local community, as they stand up to meet the rising demand for their expanded services and the rising need caused by the Opioid crisis in our area. Relying almost exclusively on private donations, City Mission continues to strengthen our local neighborhoods and provide a place of hope for the hurting.
Even more spectacular than the evening was the amount raised: approximately $125,000 will further the City Mission’s mission.