OTTAWA, ON – Shaw Centre is pleased to be hosting Ringside for Youth XXIV for the sixth consecutive year on Thursday June 7, 2018. Very few fundraisers in Ottawa have gone the distance quite like this one, an annual dinner and boxing night that has raised millions of dollars for the Boys and Girls Club of Ottawa.
This year, the event will feature former professional boxer Andre Michael Ward who competed from 2004 to 2017. He retired with an undefeated record and held multiple world titles. The evening is set to kick off at 6:00 p.m. with a reception and is anticipated to draw another sold-out crowd of 1,200 for an evening of amateur-level boxing in a regulation-sized ring surrounded by bright lights and banners inside Shaw Centre’s Canada Hall.
Steve Gallant, branch manager and vice president with CIBC Wood Gundy founded the event, now in its 24th year, to help the Boys and Girls Club, a non-profit organization that offers everything from homework and computer clubs to sports and recreational activities to summer camps and academic scholarships for at-risk youth. Ringside has raised more than $3 million to date.
“Ringside for Youth was one of the first events that I was able to attend as a member of the Event Services Team in 2016, and I am thrilled to now be taking part in the planning of the event. There is nothing quite like it as far as a food and beverage function (or gala) is concerned. The entertainment (boxing) truly makes this event a unique experience for a great cause.” Vanessa Plante, Events Services Manager, Shaw Centre.
Ringside has hosted many greats of the boxing world, The retired championship boxers have included Marvelous Marvin Hagler, Ken Norton, Gerry Cooney, Larry Holmes, Roberto Duran, Smokin’ Joe Frazier and Sugar Ray Leonard and Thomas ‘Hitman’ Hearns, to name a few.
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ABOUT RINGSIDE FOR YOUTH
Ringside for Youth is all about giving back. Every year more than 1,200 people attend the event and help ‘give back’ for the Ottawa Boys and Girls Club. Going into its 23rd year, Ringside for Youth has raised over $3 million for the Ottawa Boys and Girls Club.
ABOUT BOYS AND GIRLS CLUB OF OTTAWA
Every year, more than 4,500 children and youth walk through the doors of the Boys and Girls Club of Ottawa. The club offers a safe haven where kids can build positive relationships and develop solid life skills. They also learn about giving back to the community. Membership is free. Money raised at Ringside for Youth goes towards the many activities offered by the club, including the after-school programs and Camp Smitty. The Boys and Girls Club of Ottawa has been reaching out to children and youth in the community since 1923. Visit www.bgccan.com and find out more about this local institution.
ABOUT THE SHAW CENTRE
The Shaw Centre was founded as the Ottawa Congress Centre in 1983. With project funding from the Province of Ontario, the City of Ottawa and the Government of Canada, the Ottawa Congress Centre was redeveloped into a new larger facility, which opened in April 2011 as the Ottawa Convention Centre (OCC). In October 2014, the OCC and Shaw Communications entered into a 10 year naming rights partnership, rebranding the facility as the Shaw Centre. The Shaw Centre is a state-of-the-art convention centre that generates economic impact by hosting conventions, trade shows, meetings, consumer shows and events. The Shaw Centre was recently named runner-up as the world’s best convention centre by the International Association of Convention Centres (AIPC). Since re-opening its doors in 2011, the Centre has hosted over 3000 events and has added approximately $503M to the Ottawa-Gatineau area and Province of Ontario. The Shaw Centre is governed by a board of directors, managed by an expert team of professionals and operationally driven by inspired colleagues and selected suppliers whose main goal is to create extraordinary events. www.shaw-centre.com
The Ottawa Convention Centre® Corporation is an agency of the Government of Ontario.
