TORONTO — A glamorous gala dinner was held Saturday night for the second annual Courtney’s Quest: A Tropical Affair, a fundraising event in support of SickKids Foundation and Camp Trillium. The travel industry, led by Sandals Resorts, Beaches Resorts, Air Canada Vacations, WestJet, Transat and Dreams Resorts & Spas, was out in full force to support the worthwhile cause.

The goal was to raise $100,000 – double the target of the first Courtney’s Quest event – for SickKids Foundation, the largest charitable funder of child health research, learning and care in Canada, as well as the Camp Trillium which offers recreational experiences to children and families dealing with cancer.

“Over the past 20 years, major strides in leukemia diagnosis and treatment have significantly increased the probability that a child with leukemia will survive. However, acute leukemia remains the most common childhood cancer,” says a representative of SickKids Foundation.

Courtney’s Quest is the vision of Courtney Sadler, who was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia shortly after her 16th birthday. After gruelling rounds of chemotherapy and months spent at SickKids, Courtney is now in remission and her ‘Quest’ to raise awareness and funding for the organizations that helped save her life has begun.

“It was a long hard journey but buy the grace of God and the love and support of my family and friends I am alive today. Raising awareness for different childhood cancers is very important because the more that people are aware the more that support is shown,” says Sadler. “Most of the people that donate don’t even know our names but they want to save lives. It is the most heartwarming feeling knowing that complete strangers want to give us a second chance.”

The gala was a fun night of socializing, dancing and bidding on auction items, including some fabulous trips. The evening was all made possible by committee members Lisa Williams, Michelle White and Jamilah Haughton, and of course Courtney Sadler.