A year after the inaugural Mercy Ships Yachting Day Gala in Cannes, Bob Allen still remembers the moment he realized what it could become.
“It wasn’t really at the end, it was at the beginning,” Allen, the founder of Robert Allen Law, says. Entering the Carlton Cannes’ grand ballroom and seeing the lines of 155 guests was “kind of overwhelming in a positive sense.” In fact, he recalls, “As the room filled and you looked around, you just felt, ‘Wow, we can make a difference. We can make a difference with all these people here.’”
The second-annual Yachting Day Gala intends to make a bigger difference. It takes place September 9 during the Cannes Yachting Festival. Once again, it benefits the non-profit Mercy Ships and its hospital ships, Global Mercy and Africa Mercy. The organization treats sub-Saharan African children and adults who lack access to safe surgical care. Last year’s gala and matching contributions raised nearly $600,000. Although costs vary by procedure, “Six hundred thousand funds 1,200 surgeries approximately,” Allen explains. “That’s how important it is.” The funds from last year and those expected to be raised next month actually go further, he asserts. Among the 1,200 crew and medical staff aboard the two ships, “None of them are getting paid.” They all volunteer.
While Robert Allen Law and Allen as an individual support a number of charitable causes, Allen found Mercy Ships especially compelling. “What grabbed me was the human element,” he says, “the addressing of human suffering.” It ranges from eliminating tumors to fixing malformed limbs. “If you contribute a little bit, you’re going to change one person’s life,” he emphasizes. To that end, gala guests will see a film highlighting a patient and the transformative surgery resulting from donations.
Allen expects the event to keep growing. Given 155 attendees last year, he believes 180 to 200 people is achievable for next month’s gala. More importantly, he wants the Yachting Day Gala to become a sustained movement. The motivation is already deeply rooted for him. “In one night, one contribution within a year is going to change somebody’s life and probably their entire family’s life incredibly,” Allen says. “Nothing is this powerful.”
Individual tickets are €1,500, available via the Mercy Ships Yachting Day Gala website. Tables are available, too, with a table of 10 being €12,500 and a table of eight being €10,000. For questions and details, contact Carlie Sena.
Mercy Ships Yachting Day Gala yachtingday.org
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