You are invited to…

Celebrate Local Harvests

at Ecology Ottawa’s Eco Gala 2012

Please note: this event is sold out! Join us for Ecology Ottawa’s 6th annual Gala Dinner on Wednesday October 24, 2012 at the St. Elias Banquet Centre to celebrate the agricultural richness and the vibrant environmental community in Ottawa! We will be featuring entertainment, a silent auction, and a chance to connect with a variety of people in Ottawa who are involved in the growing environmental movement. The dinner will be a four-course meal created in collaboration with Chef Murray Wilson of the Courtyard Restaurant, and will include vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free options. This event sells out every year and for 2012 we plan to have over 400 people in the room. This is a great way to support Ecology Ottawa’s important outreach and community building projects while having fun.

Wednesday, October 24, 2012
St. Elias Banquet Centre, 750 Ridgewood Ave.
Get there via: Bike path along Colonel By then Mooney’s Bay, left on Ridgewood or Bus Route 87
5:30 p.m. Doors open; socializing and silent auction
7 p.m. Dinner
8 p.m. Entertainment

$50 – Student/Senior
$60 – General admission
$440 – Table of Eight

This event is sold out!

Entertainment

The 2012 Annual Dinner will feature a conversation with brothers Jeff and Jon Westeinde about how Ottawa can become a leader in protecting the environment by transitioning to a more sustainable economy. Strategies will include bringing world class businesses committed to that vision to Ottawa, living/working in green buildings, and the benefits of making downtown Ottawa an EcoDistrict*. These two prominent members of our business and environmental community will bring a wealth of information and ideas to the table. (* More information about the EcoDistrict is available here Ottawa EcoDistrict OVERVIEW and here, see article on page 21 titled “Business, NGOs, Community Groups Find Common Ground.”)

Jeff Westeinde, Co-Chair, Invest Ottawa

Jeff Westeinde co-founded the Quantum Environmental Group, a national full service environmental remediation and hazardous waste contracting company, in 1992 and has served as its President since that time. Jeff is also a partner with Windmill Development Group – an Ottawa-based company focused on bringing into commercial application green building practices that deliver a competitive advantage over traditional real estate models. Mr. Westeinde was named Ernst & Young’s 2001 Entrepreneur of the Year for British Columbia in the business to business category and was recognized as one of Canada’s “Top 40 Under 40” by the Globe and Mail’s Report on Business Magazine in 2003. Mr. Westeinde is active in the community and volunteers his time to numerous boards and organizations.

Jonathan Westeinde, founder, Windmill Developments

Jonathan Westeinde is the founder of Windmill and brings a great deal of experience in corporate strategy, finance and business development as it relates to green development practices. He has been actively involved in the evaluation of various innovative technologies and finance structures that enable high performance green buildings to be both innovative and viable. Jonathan is a former board member of the Canada Green Building Council and is active in speaking at conferences and other events to share his green building experience. He was also the Chair of the Centre for Environmental Cooperation’s Green Building Advisory Group. Currently, Jonathan is a volunteer with various non-profit green building initiatives. Jonathan was recognized as one of the “Top 40 under 40” in his hometown of Ottawa.

Master of Ceremonies: Adrian Harewood, co-host of CBC News Ottawa at 5, 5:30 & 6 and host of CBC News Ottawa Late Night, has kindly agreed to MC the evening.

Musicians: Vlada Chametka, violin, and Mikhail Rykov, guitar, are Duet Cantabile. They play a wide variety of classical, light classical, and traditional Belarusian music and have just completed their first studio CD. Their own arrangements of popular and traditional tunes are combined with light classical pieces. We are delighted that they will be performing at our Eco-Gala this year.

Get involved. See below to: Sponsor our Eco Gala * Volunteer * Contact * Share * Partners

Sponsor our Eco Gala

In an increasingly competitive market, corporate social responsibility as well as sustainability initiatives have never been more important to local companies. Attracting environmentally conscious clients is seen as one of the leading strategies for growing and expanding a business. Partnering with Ecology Ottawa is an opportunity for your company to directly support ongoing environmental initiatives in Ottawa and associate your business with a progressive and forward thinking not-for-profit organization. We are currently accepting sponsors and would like to discuss opportunities with you. Benefits to our sponsors are numerous and include booth space for the dinner and promotion in various forms.

We have over 11,000 supporters and a volunteer base of 400 people, with these numbers growing every day! Approximately 2,700 local residents have directly donated to our organization. We reach a large number of people through our social media platforms and our bi-weekly newsletter. We also have a number of partners in Ottawa, including community groups, non-profit organizations and businesses that support our initiatives. This year for our annual Great Glebe GREEN Garage Sale, another Ecology Ottawa event, we had over 50 sponsors. Businesses in Ottawa know that their customers are environmentally conscious and appreciate their efforts to make positive change in the community. Partnering with Ecology Ottawa allows you to reach all of these individuals, network at our Gala Dinner, and gain recognition as a local environmental leader.

We are seeking cash sponsors for the event and/or donations of food and silent auction items. Please contact Trevor or Janice for more details on the partnership offerings at 613-860-5353.

Volunteer

There are a number of opportunities available if you’d like to help out!

Farm Hand Volunteers: We are looking for volunteers to help out on farms are who are donating to our Eco Gala. We are offering work exchange in return for their generous donation of produce. If you are interested, please sign up here or contact Janice Ashworth at 860-5353 or janice.ashworth@ecologyottawa.ca.

Annual Dinner Planning Volunteers: We are looking for people to help organize the Eco Gala, which will take place on Oct 24th, 2012. We need help securing donations of food and silent auction items, arranging entertainment, postering, selling tickets, and preparing food. If you are interested in joining the team, please contact Janice Ashworth at 860-5353 or janice.ashworth@ecologyottawa.ca.

Contact

General Inquiries: Janice Ashworth, janice.ashworth@ecologyottawa.ca, 613-860-5353
Food Donations: Jennie Videto, jennie_videto@hotmail.com
Silent Auction Donations: Josie Videto, josie_videto@hotmail.com
General/Cash Sponsorship Inquiries: Elaine Gibson, aurenv@gmail.com
Communications/Media: Julie-Frances Noble Coughlin, jfnoblecoughlin@yahoo.ca

Please tell all of your friends, family, and colleagues in Ottawa about Ecology Ottawa’s Eco Gala 2012.

Share our event with your friends on Facebook
Tweet about the event on Twitter

We greatly appreciate you helping to get the word out. Please help us advertise the event by printing out a poster and posting it in your apartment building, workplace, favourite retail outlet, etc:

ECOGalaPoster-Colour-8.5×11

ECOGalaPoster-Black&White-8.5×11

Thank you all for your incredible support and for helping to make this event the best dinner yet! We hope to see you on Wednesday October 24, 2012 at the St. Elias Banquet Centre.

Partners

More to be announced soon!

Local farmers: Many local farmers are helping us Celebrate Local Harvests at our 2012 Annual Dinner by donating their fantastic produce to this important fundraising event.

Guest chef: We are thrilled to have the Executive Chef at the Courtyard Restaurant, Murray Wilson, overseeing our team of volunteers who will be preparing the meals for our 2012 Annual Dinner.

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