An extravagant night of Italian opera, expensive wine and generosity has seen an "amazing" donation made to a local charity.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Fine dining restaurant Pastorale by Meccanico teamed up with the Aichinger Group to host a degustation dinner which raised about $41,000 for Wagga's Ronald McDonald House.
About 70 local residents attended the elegant event, each purchasing tickets for the five-course meal and many taking part in an auction for rare and boutique bottles of wine.
IN OTHER NEWS:
Lisa Simpson, the executive officer of Ronald McDonald House Wagga, said she was astounded by the amount of money the event raised.
"We were blown away and we still can't quite believe it," she said.
"The initial thoughts were that it was fantastic just to be able to run an event considering the past two years but to be able to raise over $40,000 is just amazing."
Ms Simpson said the money represents over 250 nights of accommodation for local families in need of somewhere to stay while their children undergo treatment at the Wagga Base Hospital.
Richard Moffatt, one of the co-owners of Pastorale, hosted the event both as a way to raise money for charity but also to celebrate reaching the end of lockdown.
"We wanted to raise funds for a very worthwhile chairty but we've also just come out of a two year period where business has been slow and I think this was the perfect opportunity to get people out again," he said.
Mr Moffatt was only aiming to raise about $15,000 from the event and said he was taken aback by the generosity shown by the attendees.
"So many people were just wanting to get out, party and get Wagga moving again. It was very jovial and I think that energy just took over the night," he said.
"We even had one of our waiters who can sing Italian opera perform for everyone and a local business owner offered to write a $2000 check for the charity if he performed one more song which he was obviously happy to do."
The Aichinger Group owns five local McDonalds restaurants in the Riverina and owner Tony Aichinger said it was great to be back supporting charity and local businesses.
"Not only do we like supporting the house ourselves but we also like to lend support to others who are supporting the house which is why we were keen to team up with Pastorale by Meccanico," Mr Aichinger said.
"It was a great night and it exceeded all of our expectations. It's also great to know the money will be staying here in Wagga and helping local families in need."
Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content:
- Bookmark dailyadvertiser.com.au
- Follow us on Twitter
- Follow us on Instagram
- Follow us on Google News
- Make sure you are signed up for our breaking and regular headlines newsletters