Chris and Jamie Ruscheinski have more than 60,000 reasons to be happy heading into the holidays.
The twin philanthropists from 91原创 are tired but 鈥渙ver the moon鈥� excited that their second annual Long-table Gala on Saturday night raised an 鈥渋ncredible chunk of change鈥� for sick and dying children.
Their sold-out gala event held at Potters Nursery this past weekend literally raised $60,200 for the Canuck Place children鈥檚 hospice in Abbotsford.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 pretty fantastic,鈥� Chris said between yawns a few day after the gala.
While a few donations are still expected, he said a few bills are still coming in 鈥� including one for a number of decorations that were broken in the Christmas-themed store Saturday night when the party got a bit loud and rambunctious.
鈥淚t was definitely a rowdy crowd,鈥� he said with a chuckle, noting two shirtless elves and a dancing donkey helped crank up the festivities.
鈥淓veryone was out of their seats,鈥� he elaborated.
Chris noting how the greenhouse 鈥� which every November is transformed into a huge Christmas store 鈥� was quickly morphed from a 鈥渟tunning鈥� and elegantly beautiful long-table dining space into a bouncing nightclub-like dance floor in just minutes.
鈥淚t was a pretty loud evening,鈥� Chris added. 鈥淏ut really, everything went very smoothly.鈥�
Expressing 鈥済reat appreciation鈥� for their volunteers, he said some of the team was there until 4:30 Sunday morning, then back again at 8:30 a.m. to finish the clean up before the store had to reopen.
鈥淲ith less than three hours sleep the crew looked like a scene from The Walking Dead,鈥� he said, clarifying that a big dose of coffee, some sugar-infused snacks, Advil, and laughter were required to get them through the final stages of tear down.
鈥淥ur volunteers are absolutely amazing,鈥� Chris said. 鈥淥ur team feels more like a family. It blows my mind just how much we can count on them, and we can鈥檛 thank them enough.鈥�
This year鈥檚 gala sold out all 275 seats in four hours.
But asked if they鈥檒l be doing it again, Chris hesitated, partially stiffling another yawn.
鈥淲e鈥檒l have to see,鈥� he said.
鈥淗onestly, it was exhausting,鈥� Chris added. 鈥淚t felt like a bigger clean up than Gone Country,鈥� which 鈥� drawing a comparison 鈥� saw 5,000 people come together for the fifth annual charity country concert in Cloverdale in July, raising $520,000.
A lot of the credit for this event鈥檚 success goes to brothers Cam and Rob Martin of Potters who were there to defuse any technical and site issues.
鈥淭hey were the behind the scenes guys who really made it go off,鈥� Chris said. 鈥淭here just aren鈥檛 words to express how grateful we are to them and to 鈥� These two events would not happen without them, and we are so grateful for their support,鈥� he said referring to the gala as well as the Rad Santa photo sessions held Thursday night.
That event raised $4,500 this year.
When giving out special thanks, he said there were many individuals who helped make it all possible, and helped ensure so much money was raised for the cause.
As an example, he pointed to Matt Cain who pulled together the silent auction 鈥渁lmost single-handedly鈥� and managed to raise $7,000 鈥� up from $4,000 collected last year.
鈥淭hank you to everyone who came out,鈥� Chris said. 鈥淭he support this year was over the top.鈥�
Now, according to the twins, it鈥檚 time for to start planning for Gone Country 鈥� edition #6.
