Auckland men's bar Urge is continuing its tradition of raising money for charity, and this time it's a heart-rendingly personal cause. The Masks for Charity night on 20 August is raising funds for Diabetes New Zealand with customers being encouraged to wear masks on the night, with entry by gold coin donation. Urge co-owner Alan Granville recently lost his father to a diabetes-related illness. "Over 270,000 Kiwis have Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes and from reports more and more people are getting it," Granville says. "It's our small way of trying to raise awareness of the disease. It may be a bit of an emotional night for me but I hope we get a big crowd to come along to donate." Granville says any sort of mask will do, from Zorro styles to more extravagant designs." DJ Donald Bennett will be providing the music. URGE will also be holding two more charity nights in the upcoming months with a special Celtic-themed evening for the Prostate Cancer Foundation’s Blue September appeal on September 24 and the annual Slave Auction on October 29 in aid of the Mental Health Foundation of NZ.
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Tuesday, 9th August 2011 - 2:33pm