Community leader, advocate Jim Kyte shines in Evening in the Maritimes role

Gala dinner raises $340K in support of ABLE2 programs to help people living with disabilities

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What a catch Jim Kyte turned out to be as honorary chair of the 27th edition of Evening in the Maritimes.

The former pro hockey player-turned-dean of Algonquin College’s school of hospitality and tourism was, by all accounts, one of the reasons ABLE2’s signature fundraiser on Thursday night was so successful.

The evening, held at The Westin Ottawa hotel, grossed an impressive $341,377 in support of the non-profit organization and its programs to help people living in our community with disabilities. It also drew a crowd of about 550 attendees.

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Kyte reeled in many amazing auction items and prizes, including dining experiences, getaways, hockey swag, and more. Cumulatively, everything was worth $118,000.

His contribution to the evening was “ginormous,”Jeff Snyder, vice president of sales and solutions at Capital Office Interiors, told OBJ.social. “I couldn’t say enough good things.”

Snyder co-chaired the event with Rob Meredith, a financial planner and wealth management coordinator at RBC Dominion Securities (RBC was out in full force, having purchased four dinner tables). Meredith is also president of the board for ABLE2 (formerly called Citizen Advocacy).

Best dressed couple of the night was Warren Creates, a perennial attendee of Evening in the Maritimes and an immigration lawyer and head of the immigration law group at Perley-Robertson, Hill & McDougall, and his wife, retired nurse Joan Duguid. Photo by Caroline Phillips

The evening, hosted by local news anchor Graham Richardson from CTV News Ottawa, was full of East Coast party vibes. On a serious note, however, guests collectively observed a moment of silence in honour of OPP Sgt. Eric Mueller, who was shot and killed in Eastern Ontario that morning.

For those who arrived to the event by foot, it was like stepping off the hotel escalator and onto a practical oceanside pier. The decor included old wooden lobster traps, fishing nets, faux seaweed, fisherman lanterns and one of the most iconic East Coast landmarks of all — a lighthouse.

Also featured were fiddle and bagpipe music, cold beer served right from wheelbarrows, and an ocean-themed backdrop for taking selfies, or “shell”fies. The gala even had its own cute and cuddly crustacean mascot, dubbed Larry the Lobster.

The raffle featured 400 small sea creature plush toys, which was a creative twist on ordinary raffle tickets. If organizers needed the crowd’s attention, they simply sounded the loud foghorn sound effect.

Come dinnertime, the four-course meal included seafood chowder and a lobster dinner, as well as other foodie options for the landlubbers in the crowd.

The gala’s event manager, Krista Benoit, founder and CEO of iSpark Consulting, said their goal was to create an evening that offered an authentic Maritimes feel. Benoit, who does a lot of work in sports event management, is originally from Truro, N.S.

“We really want people to walk away with memorable experiences that they’re talking about the next day and sharing on social media,” she told OBJ.social. “We want them to feel like they’re having a unique experience that doesn’t just feel like a fundraising gala.”

Jim Kyte, honorary chair of Evening in the Maritimes, is flanked by two of his brothers, Murray Kyte, left, and Robbie Kyte, at the gala fundraising dinner held at The Westin Ottawa hotel on Thursday, May 11, 2023, for ABLE2 and its programs to help people living in our community with disabilities. Photo by Caroline Phillips
From left, Jeff Snyder (Capital Office Interiors) and ABLE2 board president Rob Meredith (RBC Dominion Securities) co-chaired Evening in the Maritimes, a fundraiser for ABLE2 and its programs to help people living in our community with disabilities.. Photo by Caroline Phillips
Krista Benoit, founder and CEO of iSpark Consulting, seen with live auctioneer Ryan E. Watson from Raising the Bid, at Evening in the Maritimes, a fundraiser for ABLE2 and its programs to help people living in our community with disabilities. Photo by Caroline Phillips

At the start of dinner, Kyte and his event co-chairs were piped into the room, each holding a large flag from one of the three Maritime provinces: New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island (Newfoundland and Labrador, despite its seaside location, is not considered a Maritime province, mainly because it was the last to join Confederation).

Kyte, who is the first and, to date, only legally deaf person to have played in the NHL, took to the stage to welcome everyone and to thank attendees and donors for their support. He can read lips and also wears two powerful hearing aids. “The next step for me is a cochlear implant,” he told his audience.

“But, I’m not alone. Twenty-two cent of the Canadian population identifies with a disability, and everyone in this room at some point in their life will struggle with a disability, whether it’s temporary or permanent, and that’s why ABLE2 is such a special organization.”

ABLE2 supports people of all ages and across the disability spectrum, and their families, as well, said Kyte, who is a strong voice for accessibility and inclusion. 

There was real-time captioning on the screens that night, as well as a sign language interpreter.

Jim Kyte, dean of the School of Hospitality and Tourism at Algonquin College, was honorary chair of the 27th edition of Evening in the Maritimes, held at The Westin Ottawa hotel on Thursday, May 11, 2023 in support of non-profit organization ABLE2. Photo by Caroline Phillips
From left, Elliott Bourgeois, manager of the family wealth advisory group at Welch LLP, with his colleague Connie Hollett, director of marketing and communications, and Candace Enman, president of Welch Capital Partners, David Ewart of THINK Virtual CFO, and “Larry the Lobster” at the Evening in the Maritimes fundraiser in support of ABLE2. Photo by Caroline Phillips
From left, CTV Ottawa News anchor and Evening in the Maritimes host Graham Richardson with gala attendee Warren Murphy and Richardson’s CTV colleagues, Stefan Keyes and Rosey Edeh, at this year’s fundraising dinner for ABLE2 and its programs to help people living in our community with disabilities. Photo by Caroline Phillips

The evening highlighted the organization’s matching program, which pairs up a community volunteer with a child, youth, adult or senior with a disability, to help reduce feelings of isolation or loneliness. The program currently has 250 matches, according to ABLE2 executive director Heather Lacey

ABLE2 also now offers legal referral services for people with disabilities. Reach Canada recently merged with ABLE2.

Among the business leaders who were “very happy” to be out supporting the cause and feeling inspired to want to do more was Chris Atack, chief operating officer of I4C Consulting. He used to be a student of Kyte’s in the sports business management program at Algonquin College.

“When Jim made the ask and shared the details of the programs that ABLE2 runs, it hit home for me,” said Atack, whose seven-year-old son, Hudson, was born with cerebral palsy as a result of a birth injury. The original prognosis was that he likely wouldn’t ever walk and would have to rely on a wheelchair.

“With Hudson, we started physiotherapy when he was two months old, and we had lots of support from friends and family members, and so on,” said Atack. “We tried numerous different therapies that eventually got him actually walking.”

Hudson now attends Huntley Centennial Public School in Carp, which has been very accommodating of his disability, said Atack. 

“The more we can do in the community to make life as accessible and as inclusive for people with disabilities, the better,” said Atack. “Whether the disability is physical or mental, it doesn’t really matter; if you’ve got something that doesn’t allow you to live a fully normal life, having these programs in place to help those people be happy and be part of the community is so important.”

Ryan E. Watson from Raising the Bid sold off an Ottawa Senators package for 30, courtesy of the Senators Community Foundation. There was also a trip to the Rockies to stay in Fairmont hotels, worth almost ten grand, and a West Coast experience with accommodations provided by Fairmont hotels in Whistler and Vancouver, also valued at $10,000.

Finally, there was a $24,000-Maritimes package for four that included travel from Via Rail. It featured car rental, hotel and resort stays, golfing, and dining. It sold for $22,000 during a bidding war won by business partners Paul Butcher and Jim Stechyson from HostedBizz. “It’s a good cause,” they later told OBJ.social.

From left, Daniel Julien, chief revenue officer at I4C Consulting, with its chief operating officer, Chris Atack, and Jim Kyte, honorary chair of the Evening in the Maritimes fundraising gala for ABLE2, a non-profit organization that helps people with disability to participate fully in the community. Photo by Caroline Phillips
From left, Christine Taylor (Ottawa Public Health) with Danielle McGee (Ottawa Community Housing Corp.), Joanne Kudakiewicz (Desjardins Financial Security Independent Network), Jacqueline Belsito (Senators Community Foundation) and Jennifer Cross (MARANT Construction) at the Evening in the Maritimes Gala in support of ABLE2, held at The Westin Ottawa hotel on Thursday, May 11, 2023. Photo by Caroline Phillips
From left, Craig Whitten, Allan Whitten and Derek Noble, partners at Huntington Properties, at the Evening in the Maritimes held at The Westin Ottawa hotel on Thursday, May 11, 2023, for ABLE2 and its programs to help people living in our community with disabilities. Photo by Caroline Phillips
From left, Jason Daly from RBC Private Banking with his guests, Kevin Chadwick, director, Focus Eye Centre, and his wife, Karen Chadwick, principal designer at Spark Interiors, and Dion Farentino, regional vice president of private banking for RBC, at Evening in the Maritimes. Photo by Caroline Phillips
From left, ABLE2 board president and Evening in the Maritimes co-chair Rob Meredith (RBC Dominion Securities) with Heather Lacey, executive director of the non-profit organization, and Jeff Snyder, co-chair of Evening in the Maritimes,  at the fundraising dinner, held at The Westin Ottawa on Thursday, May 11, 2023. Photo by Caroline Phillips
Evening in the Maritimes host Graham Richardson on stage with Trina Alps and Fran Larrivée during the fundraising dinner for ABLE2, a non-profit organization that helps people with disability to participate fully in the community. Photo by Caroline Phillips
Ryan E. Watson from Raising the Bid in action at the Evening in the Maritimes held at The Westin Ottawa hotel on Thursday, May 11, 2023, in support of ABLE2 and its programs to help people living in our community with disabilities. Photo by Caroline Phillips
There was a sign language interpreter at Evening in the Maritimes held at The Westin Ottawa hotel on Thursday, May 11, 2023, in support of ABLE2 and its programs to help people living in our community with disabilities. Photo by Caroline Phillips
One of the lobster dinners served at Evening in the Maritimes. Photo by Caroline Phillips

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