Will You Give A Night?
By Jackielou Perez 
Started three years ago, Give A Night was a way for young professionals to support Give A Day, an initiative that saw lawyers and legal professionals give a day of their salaries in support of AIDS awareness.
Articling students-at-law Jennifer Pocock and Tanya (Toni) De Mello, who are part of the Give a Night organizing committee, took the time to chat about this special night happening on Thursday, November 24 at the Devil’s Martini.
What is Give A Night?
Jennifer: It is a party with a purpose! Give A Night is a cocktail party and silent auction that brings together law students, lawyers from 18 of Toronto’s law firms and other young professionals to support AIDS research. All proceeds from Give A Night will be donated to the Stephen Lewis Foundation and Digitas International.
Toni: Give A Night supports Give A Day, which is a grassroots Canadian response to the heartbreaking realities of the HIV/AIDS pandemic. It challenges each Canadian to recognize World AIDS Day on December 1st by giving one day's pay to an organization, like the Stephen Lewis Foundation or Dignitas International, that will use the money well in the fight against HIV.
Why was it started?
Toni: There are 33 million people in the world living with HIV/AIDS. Extraordinary progress has been made to address the pandemic in recent years, yet over 5000 people die each day from this infection.
Why is this cause close to you?
Jennifer: When I was going through undergrad university and I took international relations, we talked a lot about politics in Africa and how HIV/AIDS was paralyzing a whole generation of people and how that was creating a lot of instability. In terms of my own feelings, it was something that struck me where, wow, if you have this entire community where anyone from the age of 20 to 60 are dying because of AIDS/HIV that’s going to really hurt your economy and your country. Though it’s both our first time running this event, I’ve been surprised many times by how many people are willing and eager to help with our event and how committed people are to supporting AIDS research.
Toni: I’ve spent some time in West Africa working and I started seeing firsthand what is happening in their society because of the disease and especially through the younger generation who lost their parents. I was personally motivated to do something because both of these organizations are well known and are accomplishing a lot.
Can you tell us about this year’s activities supporting Give A Night?
Jennifer: We have one main event, which is on Thursday, November 24th at Devil’s Martini. We operate with virtually no budget and through support and donations we are able to give back all the proceeds we make through ticket sales and the silent auctions. Through the Stephen Lewis Foundation, it’s not just about throwing your money into a cause –you see the results. The money will go to funding HIV/AIDS programs throughout Africa and educating the next generation about the disease. These programs are low cost and events like Give A Night can help these initiatives make a big difference.
You don’t have to be in the legal profession to attend! Tickets start at $20 and for the first time in Give A Night history, we are offering booths with bottle service. For more information about the event, go to www.giveaday.ca
For more information on how to get involved, contact:
Aria Kashefi (email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it )
Natasha Prasaud (email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ) or
Greg McLean (email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it )
For additional information on Give A Day, the Stephen Lewis Foundation or Dignitas International, check out these websites:
www.giveaday.ca
www.stephenlewisfoundation.org
www.dignitasinternational.org
