Mardi Gras Gala 2008

Cincinnati Bell and Microsoft present the Epilepsy Foundation of Greater Cincinnati’s 4th Annual Mardi Gras Gala

   Fat Tuesday has come and gone and all that remains are the strands of beads and several thousand deflated balloons littering the Hyatt Regency. February 5, 2008, marked the 4th Annual Mardi Gras Gala and certainly the best dressed crowd for any of the EpilepsyFoundation of Greater Cincinnati’s major fundraisers.

  This year’s “King of Mardi Gras” was Jim Scott, who represents Kroger as their Vice President and CTO. Mr. Scott also sits on the Epilepsy Foundation of Greater Cincinnati’s Board of Directors and has many times gotten his hands dirty at the Annual United Way Community Care Days. We thank you for your years of service, both past and future.

  Twelve year old Gabrielle Domka and her mother, Catherine, silenced the crowd with their inspirational tale of a family faced with the day-to-day issues of epilepsy. Thank you Gabrielle and Catherine!

  Last year’s King, Mr. Jack Cassidy and our emcee, Mr. Thom Brennaman again wowed the masses with their generosity in offering a collection for a live auction which included golf, dinner, spa treatments and a ball game (front row, of course) with Miss Gabrielle Domka throwing out the first pitch. Wow!

  In all, about $175,000 (gross) was raised to help programs such as Community Education, Counseling and Camp Dream Catcher to stay up and running strong into the future.

  We would like to thank our Co-Title Sponsors:  Cincinnati Bell and Microsoft. We also greatly appreciate and thank our King’s Court Sponsors: Avaya, Cisco, Dell, EMC, Fifth Third Bank, Hunt Builders, IBM, Nortel, TATA Consultancy Services and UCB Pharma for their generous consideration and financial support.

  As always, we relied heavily on volunteers from local businesses and the community to successfully pull off an event this size. We would like to acknowledge volunteers from Fifth Third Bank, Jane Peters, John Bostic, Brenda Steir, Patty Szabo, Shelia Leavitt, Holy Family Home Educators Youth, members of the St. Xavier High School Marching Band and the Cincinnati Chapter of the International Association of Administrative Professionals.