Movember Challenge Karaoke Toronto 2019 Thank Yous 🎤

For the tenth year in a row, we have successfully held our Movember Challenge Karaoke Toronto fundraiser, and I am humbled/happy/wowed/tired.

A fantastic group of people came to Penny’s on Bloor St W. to sing, challenge, buy raffle tickets, cheer and donate money to a great cause. From about 9:45 pm to 2:10 pm the party grooved on with old friends and new coming together to help us put together a total of just over $1,400.

Thank you all.

Thank you to Jason Rolland who is our guy for karaoke and DJ services and has hosted each and every Movember Challenge Karaoke Toronto event over the years. Thank you to Olivia who owns Penny’s Bar and is crazy generous with prize donations and buying raffle tickets and taking care of us and letting us hold the event in her bar and just being great. Thank you to Andrij at The Other Half Men’s Shoppe for a very generous donation of raffle prizes. Like wow. Thank you to Mohan at Toby’s Pub on College St. who always donates gift certificates. Thank you to every person who challenged or bought raffle tickets or donated $5 and sang a song or two. Thank you to them all.

And thank you to Sean.

10 years ago at Tequila Sun Rise on King St W (RIP), Sean and I barely knew each other and somehow started talking about Movember and the concept of challenge karaoke and how that would work. That first fundraiser had some random raffle prizes, a few kinks in how the challenge parts worked, and on a rainy, cold, Tuesday night we raised $560.

NOTE: If you would like to donate to our Movember campaign, we’d be very happy to accept any donation HERE – CLICK THIS LINK.

Now, Sean and I look at each other every year and ask whether we are ready to do this thing again. And every year we end up saying yes. Both of us need to thank our partners for nudging and supporting us to do so. Sean’s wife Erin is great in helping us with the raffle every year at the event and bringing as much enthusiasm as humanly possible to the room.

Last year, at the end of our ninth annual fundraiser, we reached the $15,000 mark for our total over the years. And now, after the last of the monies have come in, we’ll be looking at $16,500 for our ten-year total.

Every year we stand at the microphone and say thank you. Every year we mean it. Yes, I’m used to the idea that people are great and donate every year. But still, the generosity blows me away.

For 10 years people have showed up. For 10 years they have donated. And for 10 years I have been anxious about it on the day of. Last night was no different. Heck, I got to see Lady Antebellum in a small, intimate secret session two short hours before the event, and even while that was going on and being awesome – I was anxious about #MoChaKaTO. But it all worked out. Like it always has. Always.

I don’t know what the future holds, but I know this: For the last 10 Novembers in a row I’ve been blessed to spend one night with great people in a room full of songs and drinks and generosity and love.

Thank you all, from year one to year ten.

Thank you.