Donations were still trickling in Sunday after the second annual Bouge's Buds: It Takes a Village Fundraiser came to a successful completion.
Simon Whitehouse/NNSL photo
The annual event, which was held at the Chateau Nova Hotel Saturday night, is held in support of Andrew "Bouge" Debogorski, who was diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) last year.
Julaine Deborgorski, Andrew's sister, said $42,000 was raised throughout the night and will go toward the $50,000 goal that organizers are aiming to meet by the end of this month.
It was estimated about 180 people attended the event, which included a buffet meal, a live and silent auction, and live entertainment from The Jossa/Robson Jazz Duo, hip-hop artist Sammy Bigs, rock act Pit!, and Jay Bear.
In Oct. 2016, Andrew went on disability from his job as a heavy duty mechanic at Finning after he began noticing symptoms of the disease. The next June he was diagnosed with the motor neuron condition and an annual event was set up to help the costs of long-term care.
The event raised $30,000 last year but Julaine said most of that has been used and that continued support from the community is appreciated.
“The money raised last year has supplemented his income and since then, the money has been pretty well been used,” she said. “Our primary focus is to pay for home care because he is at a place now where he can't do anything by himself.
Among the major donors included the Ekati Mine Rescue Team which gave $5,000.