The Greater Vancouver Food Bank is getting a $2 million donation thanks to a private concert that real estate developer Ryan Beedie and wife Cindy Beedie hosted at Stanley Park's Malkin Bowl Aug. 12.
Bryan Adams and Blondie were the concert's headline acts, while Inhaler, Belinda Carlisle and Dear Rouge also performed.
Ryan Beedie required all attendees to make a donation to the food bank, and he then double matched the total amount that guests donated, he told BIV.
Rob Fiorvento, who is managing partner at the development company Beedie, made a large last minute donation to ensure that the total raised surpassed the $2 million threshold, Beedie said this morning.
In early August, donations were hovering around the $1 million mark.
Organizers told the crowd at 10:17 p.m. that the event had raised $1,859,122.50. That included donations from guests and the Beedie family's double-matched donations.
"Rob put in about $45,000 at the end, and then we double matched," Beedie said.
"[Fiorvento] said that whatever it takes to get the total to $2 million, he would do. This was on top of the $5,000 to $6,000 he had already donated, so his donation is close to $50,000."
Seaspan Marine executive chair Kyle Washington also donated $50,000 to the cause, Beedie said.
Many others made donations in the $10,000 range, he added.
Beedie said that while the fundraising and double matching is officially over, if a friend were to call to inform him of a new donation, he would consider double matching that amount.
Concert took place without notable glitches
The event itself went off without any major glitches, Beedie added.
He had arranged for private security at the concert as well as uniformed Vancouver Police Department officers.
The concert ended at 11:50 p.m., after some on social media noted that the sound of the concert could be heard in parts of the West End.
Beedie said that he was not aware of any city-mandated curfew, nor of any noise complaints.
Adams, who in 2012 played a philanthropic concert in Stanley Park at Brockton Fields with Sarah McLaughlin, at one point sounded as though he anticipated noise complaints.
"What time is it?" he asked at 11:10 p.m. "It feels like it is running a bit over, this show, tonight. It's 11 [p.m.] Ten after 11 [p.m.] Wow. I wonder if anyone from the park board is going to come after me: 'Oh, Bryan Adams was late tonight.' It wasn't me."
When Adams and his band left the stage after what had been a 75-minute set, the drummer threw his drum sticks into the crowd, signalling that an encore was unlikely.
Adams, however, returned on his own with an acoustic guitar and a harmonica to sing a song that he said he composed at Kits Point, when the 63-year-old was 18 years old: Straight From The Heart.
Blondie lead singer Debbie Harry took the stage before Adams, at about 8:45 p.m., when there was still sufficient daylight to see the large trees surrounding the venue.
"It's wonderful to be here among these magnificent trees," the 78-year-old told the crowd. "I mean, oh my God. I'm hypnotized by the trees."
Beedie told BIV that he was excited to meet the artists backstage.
"One really cool moment backstage was seeing Bryan Adams going up to Debbie Harry and saying 'Debbie, how are you?' and they had a little moment together," Beedie said.
"Watching two iconic artists connecting – and they probably know each other but hadn't seen each other in some time. That was really a sight to behold."
Beedie said that he requested that Adams play the song Into The Fire, which he did.
"I love that song," Beedie said. "I'm so happy he played it. I found myself running to the stage, belting out every word. From a musical standpoint, it was one of the highlights of the night."
