A sought-after event is the annual Cultural and Charity Night hosted by the Rotary Club of Auckland South.  What a night!
 
Led by President Daisy Ping this was held on Saturday 10 March at Imperial Palace, Ellerslie-Panmure Highway.   The major beneficiaries of this successful evening were Make a Wish and Dove Hospice both of which were close to the heart for both Daisy and her dedicated team.
 
Dove Hospice, and its wonderful Executive Director Julie McCarthy, has been a charity that the club has already worked with and supported as their vision and ability to truly provide for those with life-threatening illnesses and their families - and to lessen the burden of this difficult time is a real passion for the team. With some of them having personal stories of how this has impacted their own lives.
 
For the second charity, Daisy reached out to Make a Wish as she had known Debbie Hoskins, the Medical Outreach Manager for years and had always admired the incredible work that she does for these deserving kids. These are both charities which were selected for their drive and passion to truly make a difference.
 
The night itself consisted of cultural performances, gourmet Chinese dinner, speeches by distinguished guests, induction of new club members; and of course, silent auctions, raffles, live auctions and various fundraising activities strewn throughout the night. The total amount of money raised was approximately 10k for each of the two charities.
 
The success of the night was a tribute to the members of Auckland South Rotary who used their combined resources, connections and skills as business and professional leaders to organise this unique event, bringing together members, family, fellow Rotarians and friends and family of Rotary of an memorable evening out.
 
A unique and very special aspect of the wider fundraiser and the evening was an outcome from "LOVE 20". 20 in
Chinese is used as a play on words as it phonetically sounds like "love you". President Daisy used this to ask fellow Rotarians and friends of Rotary to donate $20, to collect these LOVE 20's for their selected charities. She reached across all social media platforms and oceans, receiving donations from Taiwan, Kiwi, Brisbane, Melbourne, Shanghai, Hong Kong and other countries. They all gave their "LOVE 20" to help the cause. All these generous pieces of love added up to make a whole lot of difference.
 
A participant of this LOVE 20 was David Zhang. He is a 17-year-old passionate singer who has a generous heart, he gave his friends free access to his albums despite them wanting to pay. Daisy asked his mother to donate to the "LOVE 20". David went beyond that and not only did he actively fundraise for Make a Wish and Dove Hospice, but he also offered to perform on the night.