The ballroom at the Fairmont Hotel Vancouver held 800 people at $750 a plate, and by the end of the night the room had produced $2.6 million. The occasion was the Vancouver Chinatown Foundation’s 10th annual Autumn Gala, presented by RBC and covered by Vancouver Magazine’s Fred Lee, who has hosted the evening since its first year.
Gala co-chairs Sam Feldman and Darlene Poole ran the room, with Sophie Lui as emcee. The guest list mixed business, civic, and community leadership: Premier-elect Lorne Doerkson made his gala debut, Mayor-elect Pete Fry took congratulations, and singer-songwriter Sarah McLachlan was among the guests seated for dinner.
The paddle, and what followed it
The evening’s generosity turned on the paddle raise. Philanthropists Claire and John Nicola opened it with a lead gift of $500,000, the kind of number that gives a room permission to follow. The live auction worked the same territory: BC Lions owners Amar and Natalie Doman donated the use of their private jet for an Eagles concert getaway in Las Vegas, and the package fetched nearly $90,000.
Ten years underneath the party
The foundation’s founder, Carol Lee, has spent a decade converting this room’s goodwill into buildings and archives. The record the gala celebrated is concrete: 351 affordable homes created, including 231 at Bob & Michael’s Place; more than 100 local businesses supported in Chinatown and the Downtown Eastside; and more than 10,000 historical artifacts documenting Chinese Canadian history preserved. The foundation’s Light Up Chinatown festival drew more than 26,000 visitors in 2026, and its Chinatown Storytelling Centre receives more than 10,000 visitors a year.
Grace and Stephen Kwok of Anson Realty have attended every Autumn Gala since the first one. That is the quiet metric underneath the $2.6 million: a room that comes back, ten years running, because the work it funds is visible from the street.
The Social Register’s event directory tracks the season’s galas, benefits, and society evenings. Plan your next evening there.
