Stars shine for Aurora

The Aurora Group’s sold-out Hollywoodland dinner on Saturday raised more than $60,000 for gay and lesbian charities such as Twenty10 and the Gay and Lesbian Counselling Service.

Dinners with gay politicians proved to be the hottest auction items at the Sydney Star Observer-sponsored event. An evening with high profile Climate Change Minister Penny Wong went for $15,000 after intense bidding among the ladies. Greens leader Bob Brown was also popular. Dinner with him raised $10,000 for the charity.

The annual glamour event funds community charities that are not eligible for HIV-related grants. For the first time the group has been able to expand its disbursement to eight community organisations this year including the Gender Centre, the Anti-Violence Project and Lesbians with Cancer.

I am so thrilled that Aurora’s ninth annual dinner was such a success -” a great celebration and a great fundraiser, Aurora group chair Alex Sosnov said.

We raised over $60,000 on the night from the generosity of our supporters which will allow us to continue supporting important work in our community. A huge -˜thank you’ to everyone involved.

info: Aurora’s next event will be the seventh Plucked dinner, featuring Augusten Burroughs, author of Running with Scissors and the new book A Wolf at the Table. It will be held on August 25 at Bilson’s restaurant. Details: www.auroragroup.com.au.