While it’ is unusual to cover an event months after it happened, when I heard the story about the Give Back Event on March 23 I was touched and was surprised it flew under the radar. The affair spoiled 16 Hospice Buffalo staff members with a catered dinner, champagne, and spa treatments. My family has utilized Hospice Buffalo on two occasions and they were incredible in helping make extremely difficult times a little less difficult.
The March event was organized by Rebecca and Peter McCauley and was held in the Hudson Building at 483 Main Street which they recently restored. The McCauleys hosted The Give Back Event as a thank you to Hospice Buffalo staff for the care they provided their family member, Virginia Ziebarth, whose birthday would have been that day, March 23.
“This all started with a conversation with my hair stylist when I mentioned how wonderful Hospice staff is and wanting to thank them in some way,” says Rebecca. “My stylist was on board and it snowballed from there.”
Limousines picked up the special guests from Hospice’s offices in Cheektowaga for the ride downtown. At the Hudson Building, they were pampered by hair and makeup stylists, spa treatments, dinner, champagne, flower arrangements, and “Stay Beautiful” gift bags courtesy of Elizabeth Lynn Design.
According to Rebecca, “The staff was overwhelmed. They are so busy taking care of others, this was a way to take care of them.”
In all, fourteen businesses donated their services including eight stylists. Rebeccca says everyone she approached wanted to be involved and she even had to turn away others to keep the event manageable. It was held on a Monday when many salons are closed.
The companies included:
Advantage Limousine Service, Blue Spa & Salon, Maureen’s Wholesale Flower Market, Holiday Inn Niagara Falls, Corto’s Salon and Seasons Spa, Salon DaVoe, Dean Michael Salon, Spa Alexis, eCafe, The Gourmet Store, Grabenstatter Wellness, Elizabeth Lynn Designs, The Village Browery, and The Martin Group.
To thank the eighteen volunteers, the McCauleys treated them all to dinner at Osteria after the event.
The McCauleys also saw the event as a way to utilize the building for a good cause prior to it being occupied by tenants.
“I like to say it put some good character into the building,” says Rebecca. “More developers should use their properties to give back to the community.”
“It was just tremendous,” says Rebecca. “It benefits a very deserving group of people and it was poignant for me because of my mom’s experience.”