What To Expect At Our 10th Annual Water Gala

It’s possible you’ve journeyed with us from our very first Water Gala on Pearl Street, or perhaps this year you’re excited to join in for the first time and came here for the inside scoop. Or maybe… we’re just too excited about all the fun to hold back much longer! 😉

No matter what’s drawing you in, we’re excited you’re here. Let’s preview a taste of what you might experience on this incredible night.

Let Them LOL is spending this year slowly building up to one event: an evening to celebrate our shared journey of 10yrs and beyond! We’ve experienced a great deal together, and we believe the best is yet to come. We invite you to step into the journey from the moment you enter Buffalo Riverworks on Saturday, October 19.

Stroll through twisted rebar and ruins, entering into the metaphor we’re part of; realize new life beginning to be restored before our eyes and remember this is happening all around us in the city of Buffalo and our community in Sierra Leone as we work together. At 5pm, doors open! Show your gold “boarding pass” wristband at the door, enter your door prize tag for a chance to win, and let the fun begin!

As you enter there is so much to experience, the choice is yours! You may go find your table, but for those who’ve come before you know you’ll want to grab your friends, keep an eye on the line, and snag your photo op before the night is over to make this moment last! You cannot miss our extravagant basket and silent auctions (nearly one person per table typically walks away with a prize) complete with a preview of the live auction items so you can mentally prepare all evening! Plus this year, we’ll have a walkthrough experience connecting Let Them LOL’s journey with your own individual journey – in all our highs and lows. Why? Because you are the heartbeat of our organization, and we are more connected in our humanity than we sometimes expect.

Not only this, but you’ll want to get to our event early this year as we’ve got a new surprise experience! Yes, the food will be available at stations from the time doors open, and yes we’ll have limited edition LTLOL merchandise for sale, but no, that’s not all. We’re excited to be unveiling a hint of our 360 degree immersive Sierra Leone experience – available via smartphones, and our new VR headset as time provides – which will be fully accessible at our Volunteer Center in the future. Literally step into a glimpse of life on our Hope Campus, or in a local village and get a better sense of what unites us and what hope still lies ahead.

If that’s not enough, we’ll take our seats and gather like family. We’ll share over dessert about who Let Them LOL is (seeing some familiar faces and hearing moving stories), celebrate how far we’ve come (ten years – what?!), get honest together about the hard stuff (what’s needed and how much we want to see real change happen), then dream about the future and what could be for two communities united by hope and grit. Together we’ll each choose to make reality different in one night from our own ability – from one corner of the world called Buffalo where hope is rising – because we are this kind of people. People who are good neighbors, people who give, people who care, people who show up. Ten years is just the beginning.

We’ll move on to the live auction, size up our neighbors a little, laugh a lot, and watch the fun continue to unfold! Then, it’s time to unwind. You can pick up the swag you won, enjoy some music and coffee, chat with loved ones, sneak in last minute photos or grab some merch, and embrace this amazing community called Let Them LOL with all that still lies ahead (because of people like you)!

And don’t worry, we didn’t even spoil the best parts! You’ll just have to show up to see how great it will actually be to celebrate together. Cheers for 10yrs, can’t wait to see you there!!!

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PS – Still have questions? Below are some FAQ’s we thought might help out, or feel free to 1) comment below 2) email dana@letthemlol.com or 3) call 716-458-0785!

• how to reserve a table/tickets: watergala.com

• volunteer hours: Every year a[n awesome] team of high school to college age students assembles to form the water ninjas who literally make our event possible, while having a bit of fun and enjoying some perks along the way. It’s a great opportunity for a bunch of hours and minor commitment (one meeting). In the end you get incredible memories and maybe a new tribe you never expected along the way! Interested? Click here to sign up!

• what to wear: We want this event to be fun and comfortable; guest’s choices tend to range from wedding attire to more formal based on personal preference. We promise not to bring the fashion police (haha), so please dress nicely, but be you!

• schedule:
5pm – Doors Open: Auctions, Photo Op, Food Stations
7:15pm – Presentation
7:45pm – Live Auction
8-10pm – Auction item pick-up, music, coffee, community, etc.

• where:
Buffalo Riverworks
359 Ganson St
Buffalo, NY 14203

• parking: we’ll have plenty of free parking