ELE Champions Charity Luncheon
ELE Champions Charity Luncheon
A spectacular event like no other
This year was the 26th ELE Champions Charity Luncheon held in Wellington and their biggest year yet. It was hosted at the brand new Tākina Convention Centre and welcomed sporting legends like Sir Graham Henry, Sir Wayne “Buck” Shelford, Ian Kirkpatrick MBE, Joanah Ngan-Woo and many more hosted by Jason Pine MC. Over 900 guests came together and raised an incredible $406,000 in support of Life Flight!
Our heartfelt gratitude goes out to Ian Klinac, the visionary who brought Champions to life. Together with his wife Maria, their outstanding dedication and vision created this superb event. We also want to recognise Brent Mulholland of the ELE Group and the fantastic Platinum sponsors who make the event possible.
One of the uniquely special moments in Champions is hearing from our sporting legends. Interviewed by Jason Pine, the room learns about life from the locker room, behind the scenes on our most remarkable sporting moments, and banter between the seasoned pros. Thank you to all the sporting legends who shared their time and stories and made the event so memorable.
Before the auction began, the crowd was captivated by our patient speakers, Melissa and Sam Dews, Upper Hutt parents of Tilly, who was flown by our Air Ambulance planes after she was diagnosed with cancer. Now, after many years of hospital visits, Tilly has finished her treatment and is in remission. They were joined by Life Flight crewperson Helena and together they shared the importance and impact of Life Flight. We are deeply thankful to Melissa, Sam, and Helena for sharing such a moving story.
Our deepest gratitude to the auction prize donors and bidders who raised the monumental $406,000. That kindness will fund over 100 life-saving missions like Tilly’s within our community. Thank you.
Finally, the event ran seamlessly thanks to the effort of the HIBS volunteers and many teams behind the scenes. Their hard work made the night a huge success.
Thank you to everyone who attended and made it an unforgettable afternoon! We look forward to seeing you at the 27th ELE Champions Charity Luncheon.
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Our hard-working team does everything it can to get patients where they need to be. Every day I witness that dedication to helping people, and it’s amazing to think this service is made possible by our generous supporters. Outside of work I love drawing, painting, and running in the bush with my dog, Hero.
