Lighthouse Foundation Luncheon at Royal Melbourne Yacht Squadron
A superb luncheon at an iconic venue with the aim of supporting a worthy charity for youth homelessness, was a choice event on Valentine's Day.
The annual Valentine’s Day Share Your Heart luncheon at Royal Melbourne Yacht Squadron on Feb 14 was a beautiful event which marked the traditional ‘day of love’ with a gathering of some of Lighthouse Foundation’s most steadfast supporters, and welcomed some new corporate partners to it's community. We also were touched with the support of our friends at Porsche who provided a giant teddy bear in a branded Porsche racing suit, an adorable red Porsche mini pedal car, and a skirt signed by the Australian Netball team for the silent auction.
Lighthouse ambassador, Jo Stanley, entertained with some hilarious tales of how she met Susan Barton during her time as a driver in the celebrity Grand Prix race, ten years ago. Jo has been a loyal supporter of Lighthouse ever since, and she is committed to doing whatever she can to end youth homelessness. Jo then had a lively chat with fellow ambassador, Stevie Nicholson of Hi-5. Stevie later was happy to trace his hand print in return for a generous donation from an excited dad of a little Hi-5 fan. Founder Susan Barton AM then spoke about the Mums ‘n Bubs Lighthouse home, and the isolation, neglect and abuse that these young woman have endured. A Wishing Tree of items to be funded, such as bibs, nappies, and cot blankets was taken care of by the generous people in the room.
Event organiser, Danielle Schofield said,” These gorgeous people always support this lunch. It just touches people’s heart that we have young homeless girls who are becoming mums themselves, and yet they have nobody to care for them, and no home they can feel safe in.”
Thank you to all who have helped with silent auction prizes and providing gifts for the goodie bags (which ended up having contents valued at almost $200). Special mention must go to Fiorina Jewellery of High St Armadale, for the collaborative fundraising project which has created a stunning sterling silver charm on a silk cord bracelet which was sold on the day, and is available on our website (here) as well as in their store.
Another highly sought after item was the stunning teak Arondiack chair donated by Vivienne from The Teak Plaec. With friends like these who are willing to ‘share their heart’, we are able to keep helping homeless young mums.