Friday night in the heart of Parkdale the St. John's Parish Hall basement was transformed into a venue for an art auction and raffle to benefit the Parkdale Activity-Recreation Centre (PARC). Design Hope Toronto's fourth annual event featured all kinds of work from local artists, inspired by the theme of "shelter."

As usual, auctioneer Bill Kime (from Waddington's) stole the show, injecting loads of humour into the bidding process, all the while drawing out that extra bit of generosity inside all those gathered for the evening. This year, though, the addition of the PARC Drummers kicked the night off in style, getting everybody into and excited about the bidding that followed. Besides, with beats like theirs, it's hard not to find your toes tapping.

The end result of all the bidding and raffle? A $14,500 cheque presented to PARC.

Julia Bonnell's iconic house, used as the cover of the program, not surprisingly, drew the highest rollers, finally selling for $2,400, easily making it the top piece of the night. One of my favourites, Matryoshka Dolls, got a little too rich for my blood thanks to host and CBC weather dude Nick Czernkovich (who, btw, didn't even register to bid. hrmph!).

One of the principles of Design Hope Toronto is that art should be accessible to all, which explains the raffle. And also the free entry (with suggested donation of $10). Anyhow, with three raffle tickets available for $10 (or one for $5), lovely art could go home with folks who couldn't get into the start-at-$100 bidding wars.

The event is so well organized that everything always flows seamlessly, and best of all, it's a great time for everybody who attends - whether I'm bidding or not (watching Bill Kime in action is more than worth the suggested price of admission). OK, I lied. As fun as the night is, the best part is the big cheque that goes to a more than worthy cause.

Photos by Joshua.