Gay Whistler approached FOH in the planning for the 25th year of its WinterPRIDE celebration: the 2017 Whistler Pride and Ski Festival, which took place January 22-29.

Whistler Pride welcomes gay men and women from 26 nations coming together to celebrate diversity and to explore incredible pure skiing and riding bliss of Whistler Blackcomb, with some runs boasting a spectacular thigh burning vertical mile, the biggest and longest in North America.

Foundation of Hope was honoured to be the recipient of the proceeds from an event called Sashay, which was held on the Saturday evening before the big headliner known as Snowball.

Organization for Sashay was largely undertaken by the folks at Gay Whistler, who provided the venue and arranged for the entertainment. Producers Sunil Sinha and Dean Nelson engaged part-time Whistler, part-time Vancouver local Peter Blitz to assist with his team of volunteers in the organization of the event.

Foundation of Hope Board Directors Chad Walters and Chad Wilkinson worked with Peter and many local and international community volunteers to gather a list of silent auction items provided by the incredible generosity of local and international business owners and philanthropists.

Prizes ranged from gift certificates and merchandise to luxury accommodations on the mountain and even included five days of accommodation in Reykjavik, Iceland, complete with guided tours!

Along with Rainbow Refugee, FOH was proud to be the recipient organization for Sashay, which befittingly complements STRUT as our annual flagship fundraiser.

Sashay was very well-attended and brought in over $15,000 including the silent auction items. Foundation of Hope is incredibly grateful for the engagement with the cause and looks forward to building on the success of the inaugural Sashay event with GayWhistler.com.