Vibe Check: Capital Region Gives Back
Our 4th annual fundraising event brought in more than $14,000 for local nonprofits.
When I first called Saratogian Dan Graham, owner of SM2 Dev and lover of dogs, to tell him he was one of this year’s Capital Region Gives Back honorees back in October, he gave the typical “thank you, I’m so honored” reply before switching to a serious tone: “Nat, just so you know, I’m winning this.” Having played Dan in volleyball (he’s quite the athlete, too) I know he’s a gracious loser, but if given the opportunity to come out on top of a competition, he’ll do pretty much whatever it takes to do so. As with all of our honorees during the initial congratulatory phone call, I wished him luck and told him we were there to help.
Fast forward two months, past a fundraising battle that saw Dan make his acting debut alongside friend and fellow dog enthusiast Tim Pink (a.k.a. the Saratoga Dog Walker), and Dan was taking the mic from emcee Christina Arangio of NEWS10 ABC at our annual holiday party, having raised the most money for his charity, Lucky Puppy Rescue. (Shout-out to the Huntingtons Society’s Mike McNary for giving Dan a run for his money!) The essence of what Dan said was this: He’s honored to be recognized alongside such brave and selfless Capital Regionites, and blessed that he was able to choose to be involved with his charity rather than having life hand him a deck of cards that made him be involved. Recognizing that he was the “dog guy,” Dan vowed to make a personal donation to the nine other charities represented, and implored the more than 200 people in the crowd to do so as well.
Just prior to his speech, the owner of Saratoga Living, Capital Region Living and Putnam Place had also implored the crowd to give back as much as they can. After these speeches, a group of guests at the bar vowed to do just that and marveled about how this event year after year centers them as to the true meaning of the holidays.
Swoon.
Some of the topics during the evening’s short program were heavy, and Christina did an incredible job of pacing and drawing everyone in. The compassion with which she told the stories of the honorees meant not one detail was missed; you could literally have heard a pin drop. At least one member of the audience teared up when Christina talked about Shaun Evans’ son Shamus, who has cerebral palsy, wanting to raise money for running chairs so that other kids like him could “feel what it’s like to go fast,” and Kleenex were proffered around the room when Mike McNary’s story of losing his wife to Huntington’s Disease and finding out both his children had it as well, was told. (Mike is an active Board member of the Huntington’s Disease Society of America.) Each honoree received much applause and, of course, gifts: gorgeous floral bouquets by Samantha Nass Floral Design and personalized desk trinkets by Awards by Walsh).
Before and after the program, guests enjoyed an old-fashioned holiday party. When guests arrived, they grabbed a complimentary glass of wine from Freixenet and filtered into the room, making their way to the One With Life Tequila tasting table, the buffet dinner provided by Old Daley Custom Catering and Sake, Putnam Place’s cash bar and the silent auction. DJ BoyBoy kept spirits high and photographer Zach Skowronek shot happy groups of revelers against a festive holiday backdrop. After the program? Guests dug into plates and plates of holiday cookies from Old Daley and Bella Napoli. I enjoyed catching up with former Gives Back honorees Christina (last year she represented the Down Syndrome Aim High Resource Center) and Ramón Domínguez, president of the Race Track Chaplaincy of America and a 2020 Gives Back alum, before heading backstage to organize the honorees’ aforementioned gifts.
As the party drew to a close, I learned Dan hadn’t stopped promoting Lucky Puppy Rescue just because he’d won the friendly competition to raise the most (as the winner, the money Dan raised for the charity will be matched by Empire Media Network Chairman Anthony Ianniello). Instead, he’d been networking with the other honorees, putting plans in motion to hold Lucky Puppy events with both Starletta Smith of the YWCA and Anna Kuwabara of the Albany Symphony Orchestra. Crossover events featuring Capital Region Gives Back nonprofits? Count us in.
See more photos from Thursday’s Capital Region Gives Back event here.
Game Time Answers December 20:
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