The Delta Ottawa City Centre will host the 8th Annual Maddy’s Gala on Feb.7, a fundraiser for Roger’s House, the paediatric palliative care facility here in Ottawa.
The event, established in honour of the late Madison Otto, is headed by her parents Dean and Jeanine Otto. Madison died suddenly in the summer of 2007 at the age of five of an inoperable tumour on her brainstem.
The following year, Maddy’s parents embarked on their journey to give back to the place where Maddy had spent her final days: Roger’s House, a respite facility on the grounds of the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario.
Maddy’s Gala has called the Delta Ottawa City Centre home for over five years and opens its doors to guests ready for the elegant fundraising soirée.
“We were with them through it all . . . every year it’s getting better and better,” says Jeanine Otto.
The Ottos work alongside the Ottawa Senators Foundation in an effort to ensure all of the donations raised through the gala and other fundraising efforts find their way to Roger’s House.
“The charity that (the Ottawa Senators Foundation) gives the most money to is Roger’s House, so that’s why we decided to partner with them,” says Jeanine Otto.
Danielle Robinson, president and CEO of the Ottawa Senators Foundation, says the Otto family’s tireless efforts to raise money have made a huge impact on the lives of the children at Roger’s House.
“The Otto family, with the creation and continuation of Maddy’s Gala, have ensured that families just like theirs have had a home away from home to care for them in the best possible way in some of their darkest hours.”
Robinson says the Otto’s continual participation in Roger’s fundraisers, such as the annual Walk Roll and Run event and Telethon, has established the family as true ambassadors for Roger’s House and the Sens Foundation.
Over eight years, the annual gala has raised more than $325,000 for the charity, an accomplishment Jeanine Otto says she never could have imagined.
“We had a 10-year goal to get to like $100,000, that’s all we ever wanted to do was get to 100. We blew that out of the water I think by the fifth year,” she says.
With this year’s gala on the horizon, Otto projects the evening will raise as much as $50,000, further surpassing their initial expectations.
Megan Wright, executive director of Roger’s House, says the Ottos continual donations allow the children at Roger’s House to experience the best quality of life possible.
“The money goes directly to fund the services we provide to children and families; services such as recreation therapy, child life, bereavement support and direct nursing care.”
A crowd ranging from 175 to 200 guests is anticipated the night of the gala, a number Jeanine Otto says has been growing year after year. The night’s agenda includes a wide variety of events, spanning the course of the evening.
“The dinner, the dancing, the silent auction, we have casino tables set up, it’s really just a fun night,” says Otto.
For one night in February, the Otto’s will turn the Delta Ottawa City Centre ballroom into a place of hope. As guests arrive dressed to the nines, they remember a life lost too soon but continue to push for a better future.
Robinson says the success of the night should bring the Otto family’s eight year total up around $400,000, but Jeanine Otto has already set her sights on a bigger goal for the future.
“We’re aiming for one million, and I don’t think anything’s impossible.”