March 2024: JDRF Buffalo Soiree & JDRF Rochester Soiree

in ,

JDRF Buffalo Soiree

March 2, 2024

Celebrating 50 years of JDRF in Buffalo, NY

Attendees raised their paddles to donate to JDRF during the “Fund a Cure” portion of the night.

 

At the JDRF Buffalo Soiree on March 2, 2024, we celebrated 50 years of JDRF at The Atrium @ Rich’s in Buffalo, NY. The Buffalo community came together for an evening program with an exquisite live & silent auction, plated dinner, and a beautiful Fund a Cure fundraising moment driven by The Smith Family (Buz, Cale, Jaxson, and Michele Smith) an incredible local family impacted generationally by T1D.

Pictured: Cale Smith & his son Jaxson, both living with type 1 diabetes (T1D), gave our Fund a Cure speech at the JDRF Buffalo Soiree.

The silent & live auction at the Buffalo Soiree included exciting items such as as a personal “Wing Night” with Buffalo Bills player Reid Ferguson at Bar-Bill, the opportunity to create your own beer at Resurgence Brewing Co., and tickets to a Buffalo Bills game in the Mader Construction Co. Dugout Suite. The attendees at the Buffalo Soiree & our dedicated sponsors helped us raise over $168,000 for JDRF and T1D research.

 

Pictured from L to R: Kenmore West High School students & JDRF volunteers – Julianna, Kaelin & Dominic

 

We were also joined by an amazing group of volunteers who helped the evening go smoothly, including a group of students from Kenmore West High School who got involved with JDRF Upstate New York after the untimely passing of their friend, Alyssa. Her life was cut tragically short when her type 1 diabetes went undiagnosed. They have channeled their grief into action and have become JDRF volunteers in Alyssa’s memory.

 

Thank you especially to the Partners who made this event possible:

Gold – Ford (Buffalo Stamping Plant) & Tops Friendly Markets
Guest Experience – Reid & Erica Ferguson
Gold – Tops Friendly Markets

Silver:
Asset Compliant Solutions
Aesthetics Associates Centre
Cards for a Cure LLC
Elly’s Angels
Insulet
Mader Construction Company, Inc.
West Herr Auto Group

JDRF Rochester Soiree

March 23, 2024

Celebrating JDRF in the Rochester Community

 

On March 23, 2024, we gathered in Rochester, NY for the JDRF Rochester Soiree. Thanks to the generosity of our attendees and Partners, we raised nearly $100,000 for JDRF and type 1 diabetes (T1D) research. The night’s wonderful program, emceed by WROC News 8’s Adam Chodak, included a live auction that included exciting items such as a sign Taylor Swift guitar that sold for  $2,700!

Signed Taylor Swift guitar in our live auction at the JDRF Rochester Soiree.

 

Our Fund A Cure portion was motivated by Desmond Goergen, who lives with T1D. You can watch his family’s Fund a Cure speech in the video above! Thank you to the Goergen family for reminding the Rochester family of the importance of JDRF’s mission & vision.

 

A special thanks to our sponsors and Rising Partners who made this year’s JDRF Buffalo Soiree a success:
Platinum – Waldron Rise Foundation
Fund A Cure – Waldron Rise Foundation
Gold – Tops Friendly Markets
Silver – West Herr and Scott & Melissa Portuondo

Rising Partners:
M&T Bank
Design Pool and Spa
Liftbridge Financial
Farley Financial Associates
Electronic Merchant Systems
Strategic Partners Team at Keller Williams
Mercury Print Productions