Last Friday we organized a fundraiser for Gigi McIntosh, which was held at Canal Street Pub in Reading. The evening was co-hosted by her fundraising committee (Cindy Tomlinson, Wendy Dougherty, Jane Zintak and Lisa Thomas/Mid-Atlantic Equestrian) in combination with Jake Bausher (Canal Street) and Bill Thomas (Bills Khakis).
The evening was an overwhelming success, with friends and supporters from both Berks County and Unionville areas mingling in mutual admiration for our inspirational Para Equestrian. Jake Bausher was so kind to open up the entire back of Canal Street to accommodate our large group of supporters. We had well over 75 people in attendance who helped make the entire evening a huge success. We thank everyone who came to the event or sent a generous donation in the event they could not attend. A special thanks goes out to Lindsay McCall from the USPEA for helping promote this through her organization and managing the donation list!
We will continue to look for ways to support Gigi in her bid for making the next Paralympic Team. It is an ongoing effort and a story that needs to continue to be proliferated throughout the equestrian world and to the general public. This is a human spirit story that is meant to be heard!!
A note of reflection from Gigi:
"I was delighted to see so many old friends turn out for the fundraiser at Canal Street last Friday night and totally overwhelmed at this tremendous show of support for me and Rio! Lisa Thomas started us off and Charlotte stepped in to introduce Brian Troy, the director of the Fork in the Road documentary. Brian Flannery, personal trainer from Corps Fitness, followed by speaking to the audience about the importance of my exercise routine and how that supports my riding, and the evening wrapped up with Jessica's stirring patriot call to action on my behalf!
Thank you to Bill and Lisa Thomas, Jake Bausher and Canal Street for putting this together!
Thank you to Cindy Tomlinson, Wendy Dougherty and Jane Zintak for all their brainstorming, Pari and Simon Nurrish for helping present the movie with their hardware. The incredible success of the film would not have been possible without the talent of Brian Troy and Bethany Ditnes and Cindy Connors (producers) and of course the cast at Blue Hill Farm and Bruce Davidson's for their parts in The Fork in the Road!
I was thrilled with the last minute donations for the event and the auction from Susan Rohr of Godiva Chocolates, Adrienne Pendergast from Asolare Hair Salon, Evelyn Szczepanek of Lynn Rose Photography and Bill Thomas of Bills Khakis.
Most of all thank you to my family, Jessica, Missy, Rachel and my extended Blue Hill Farm family for all the love and support!"
Please check out the entire photo album and join Gigi's supporters on Facebook.
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