Think Pink! Dinner for a Cause

CEBU, Philippines - After painting the whole town (err mall) pink for a month, Ayala Center Cebu ended its Think Pink!, a breast cancer awareness campaign, with a sweet note – a dinner at The Terraces.

The month-long mall-wide activities lined up for the Breast Cancer Awareness Month last October sure had rippling effects within the community through spreading the message that early detection means cure. For the second time, Ayala Center Cebu did it again. I Can Serve, a breast cancer advocacy group, was also at the forefront of this endeavour being an extra hand in mounting Pink activities such as Touched by Cancer photo exhibit, Pink Lifestyle Exhibit participated by ACC merchants, Pink Garden (an organic fair), Hair Dare Campaign, and Pink House by USC CAFA and Institute of Interior Designing Cebu Chapter.  

Last Friday, it was a wrap up with the Dinner for a Cause reminiscent of a garden wedding reception. ACC’s Think Pink! partners such as ICanServe, Rotary Club of Cebu Fuente and Gloria Maris, Philippine Society of Medical Oncology-Cebu, Rotaract Clubs of Cebu Fuente Network, Commbased, USC & STI, and ABS-CBN were in full attendance.

No less than home-grown Filipino restaurant Cafe Laguna showed off its culinary expertise through the sumptuous dinner they prepared. At the strike of 6 in the evening, waiters began moving around with Hors d’oeuvres: Tomato-Mozarella-Basil Skewer with balsamic glaze and fresh thyme; Bunuelos de Chorizo – home-made Spanish chorizo in puff pastry; and Melon & Prociutto Wrap for everyone. The dinner promised to showcase healthy eats and it did even more when the first course for the night was laid on our table: Salad Nicoise – a salad of green beans, hard boiled eggs, ripe red tomatoes, black olives, chunks of tuna fish and fresh anchovies. The next meal was a fishy delight: Grouper Al Forno – baked grouper fillet in pesto served with Spinach Ravioli in pomodorinni. To complete the sweet tooth a trio dessert was served: Ube Jam n’ Brand Snaps, Mango Crepe and Chilled Fresh Fruits in Juice Glaze and Basil.

Dancesport Team Cebu, thespians in musical theatre performance Atty. Felipe Landicho and Raki Vega were the entertainers for the night along with show band The Freestyle, who flew in from Manila to Cebu just for the event. Proceeds of the dinner will go to ICanServe foundation.

Earlier that night, ACC in the person of its division head Joy Polloso handed out P52,000 to ICanServe from its merchants and SMEs such as Sony, David’s Salon, Artwork, Rustan’s, Forme, Meg, Essenxa, Lava, What A Girl Wants and All FlipFlops. Polloso proudly announced later that night that ACC won the Gold Award for its Think Pink! Campaign in the marketing, community relations category in the 2009 International Council of Shopping Centers, Inc. Congratulations!