The 11 th annual Telus Mobility Winter Classic, a fundraiser for the Whistler-Blackcomb Foundation, was a completely sold out event this year, with most of the popular events selling out a full week in advance.
"We usually have a few tickets left at the door, but this year we were sold out," said an exhausted Louise Lundy, the executive director of the Whistler-Blackcomb Foundation. "To have these events supported like this was really great.
"We managed to squeeze a few big-wigs in at the last minute, friends of our biggest supporters, because we didn’t want to leave anybody behind. But we were worried that we would have to turn people away – you try not to do that at a fundraiser."
Although volunteers are still counting the money, Lundy estimates that this year’s event – which included the Whistler Winetastic wine tasting Friday, the Triple Crown Race Classic on Saturday, and the Shaken, Not Stirred mountain-top gala dinner and auction on Saturday night – raised more than $150,000 for the Whistler-Blackcomb Foundation.
Among the prizes fetching a high price in the auction was a seven-day trip to Hawaii and seven days of heli-skiing, access to a box at GM Place for 24 people, and various paintings by local artists.
The Whistler-Blackcomb Foundation funds non-profit groups in the Sea to Sky Corridor. Since 1992, the Whistler-Blackcomb Foundation has raised more than $2.5 million for Sea to Sky Communities, funding groups and programs in the area of health, human services, education, recreation, the arts, culture and the environment, with an emphasis on children, youth and family programs.
