Exclusive Lunar New Year celebration raises record funds for kids health research
By BRANDVOICE
In an evening of glamour, culture and vibrant entertainment, 200 wealthy guests opened hearts and wallets for a record-breaking charity event to support cutting-edge research that will help change the future for sick kids and their families.
BRANDVOICE – SPECIAL FEATURE
It takes a rare form of playful persuasion to have people happily separate from their money – and then return two years later to repeat the experience.
And so it was at this year’s exclusive Lunar New Year Celebration organised by the Sydney Children’s Hospitals Foundation (SCHF) and attended by business leaders and philanthropists from around the world. Guests came up with a record-breaking charity haul – and loved every minute of it.
Held last month at the InterContinental Hotel, Sydney, the event saw guests donate abundantly for cutting-edge research to improve the lives of children and families
in Australia, raising $2.15 million in a single night–surpassing all previous records for the event.
Monika Tu, SCHF Ambassador, chair of the Lunar New Year Celebration committee, and Founder & Director of luxury real estate agency Black Diamondz Property Concierge, said the invitation-only guest list was chosen not just based on wealth but also because of their passion for giving.
When invited to bid for head-turning items and experiences at the evening’s charity auction, guests knew what was expected of them and came through generously.
“As the auctioneer and as the committee chair, I know just how much to stretch them,” jokes Tu.
“They have to enjoy this; there’s a lot of trust behind it.”
Among the experiences auctioned on the night, a Parisian adventure, donated by Dorchester Collection, and a LOUIS XIII cognac tasting at the House of Rémy Martin, donated by Louis XIII, sold for $40,000.
Another guest paid $68,000 for a whisky tumbler handcrafted out of solid 24ct gold, donated by ABC Bullion.
Among the luxury partners, Ferrari Australasia donated a chance to drift the latest Ferrari models on ice in Queenstown, New Zealand, which met with such fierce bidding that a second was auctioned.
Two significant pledges of $500,000 from The Deedee Foundation and $250,000 from the Lee Ming Tee Foundation were added to the tally.
Cutting-edge research for kids and their families
One of Australia’s largest and most trusted kids’ health charities, SCHF raised over $100 million from 35,000 donors in 2024.
Children’s healthcare comes with its own unique set of challenges, and not just because of the average 17 years it takes for new research to make it to the
hospital’s bedside.
Kristina Keneally, CEO of SCHF, says philanthropy provides supporting infrastructure like playgrounds, dog parks and bedrooms for parents and carers to make children’s journey through hospitals the best it can be.
It helps fund innovative training and advanced pieces of equipment. Last year, SCHF brought Professor Chris Forrest, an international paediatric craniofacial plastic surgery expert, from Toronto to Sydney, where he lived part-time for a year to train surgeons in his techniques.
For the guests, SCHF’s charity events provide valuable networking opportunities where relationships are forged in an atmosphere of laughter and camaraderie.
“If you have a committee that is both passionate about the cause and passionate about bringing people together for a good time, you’ve hit that event magic that will make the evening a remarkable success,” Keneally says.
For more information, visit schf.org.au