Emily Ratliff | Claire's Army Gala Update

Bo and Beth welcome founder of Claire's Army Emily Ratliff to share more information about the 9th Annual Claire's Army Gala. For more info or to donate, go to clairesarmy.org.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
This is good morning, Beatty.

Speaker 2 (00:05):
All right, Thursday morning, August seventh, here in the Tyboid Studio.
August seventh is well, it's very close to August sixteenth,
just days away from the ninth annual Claire's Army Gala
coming to the Casey at eighteen thirty seven North Tryon
Street in Charlotte. That's where it was last year if
you attended and remember Claire's Army. Their mission striving to

(00:28):
act as God's hands and feet for families fighting childhood
cancer by supporting their daily responsibilities, allowing them to put
time and focus on their child. And basically this dates
back to when Emily and Kevin Ratliffe were in the
hospital with their daughter Claire, who was battling cancer and
it was a shock to obviously her system, but it

(00:48):
was a shock to their whole family system because they
didn't know what to do. They found themselves in the
hospital for an extended amount of time their child was
getting treatment, and so they had an army of people
that formed around them during that experience and really helped
them through the whole process. And Claire ultimately passed away,

(01:09):
but Claire's legacy lives on in What's called Claire's Army,
and they now act as that that army around other
families that are dealing with with similar situations. I know
some of you know that story very very well because
I've been telling it for years. But we have new
people into the show every day and on this station
and in this city, and so I never, you know,

(01:29):
lose sight of the fact that people may be listening
and learning about Claire's Army for the first time. So
we bring on the WBT hotline one of our favorite people,
a member of the family here, Emily Ratliffe, who is
Claire's mom and the founder of Claire's Army, and she's
back with us because the gala is coming up. Emily,
how are you today?

Speaker 3 (01:48):
Good morning. We we're about ten days out, so we're
in you know, just we're getting excited. We're getting excited
that it's already here, you know, less than it seems
like it was yesterday. We were celebrating from last year
and here we are again, you know, for the ninth time.
So we're just we're so excited.

Speaker 1 (02:07):
So the big question this morning for people who are
waking up and listening. Our ticket's still available for anybody
who's interested. In attending the gala, So.

Speaker 3 (02:17):
We do have a few, but please like purchase soon
because there's so many people that I know wait till
last minute. And we absolutely do have a maxed capacity,
so once we're sold, we really can't make space for
more as much as we would like to. So please
buy tickets Claarsarmy dot org and on our homepager is

(02:38):
a link to the ticket. So we really want don't
want you to miss a chance. It's once a year
and please don't miss it.

Speaker 2 (02:45):
So I also want to focus on what people can
do if they don't come or if they do if
they do come, because the silent auction and the auction
that happens while we're all there, those are really exciting things.
And can we talk about any of the the big
items that people should know about this year?

Speaker 3 (03:03):
Yes, we have so many great things like always, but
lots of different trip experiences, whether it's you know, a
trip to the beach that's not far away, or we
have about seven different offerings to some exotic places in
the Caribbean and other areas. We have golf experiences and

(03:25):
a couple we have one to Costa Rica. Another trip,
we have some incredible things from windsor jewelers like our
famous diamond dowser that we feature every year, where that's
just a really neat chance of one and then one
hundred chance to win these beautiful diamond earrings. They also
have donated a necklace to us, and we've got wonderful

(03:49):
like gift baskets and gifts from places in Charlotte who've
donated for years like Showered Me with Love and Carolina
Grace and Paul Simon Charlotte and just so many great items.
We Right now, we're at around ninety different auction packages
that are up forbidding in our silent auctions. So whether
you're at the event or even bidding from home, there's

(04:13):
a chance to participate and really join the fun and
help families while you're doing it.

Speaker 1 (04:18):
And if you're at the event, you get to meet
one mister Bo Thompson because he will be mceing your
gala or I mean since the beginning he has been
there as you're EMC. But tell people who can't be there,
you just said that they can bid from home, they
can be part of the silent auction. How exactly can
people participate? How do they go about making that happen.

Speaker 3 (04:40):
So we have if we'll go on our website, there
is a number to text, and then they'll get an
automatic link to enter the bidding and they can even
go ahead and register now even though the items aren't live,
and that way they'll start receiving text messages when the
auction's open. It sends reminders to say, you know that

(05:02):
you've been out bid and at another bid, and it's
just a great way to stay engaged on everything that's
happening once you spend that text to start participating in
the auction. And that's also the same way that anyone
that night will participate is through that link, whether you're bidding,
whether you're participating in the Diamond Dowser, or even just

(05:26):
giving that night. That's really the portal to do so,
and we'll share that on the website as well. That
text kind of like a text to give link.

Speaker 2 (05:36):
It's a really great night and it's a lot of
things at once. Beth was was that last year's gala,
so she knows how this all works now, and many
of you who are listening have attended. But this is
a celebration because the whole point of this is to
have a party the way Claire used to party and
how Claire would be partying. And it's a black tie
signature event for Claire's Army. Dinner, drinks alive and silent auctions.

(06:00):
We talked about that, live music, and lots of ways
to engage and understand what you guys do all year,
because this is the engine that really funds and drives
everything and that's why we need so much participation. Over
three hundred and seventy five thousand dollars raised last year.
But if you're looking for a great night out to
end the summer and to have some fun but also

(06:22):
have a really meaningful experience too, it's a great event
that kind of ties it all together, and it's back
at the Casey once again, which is eighteen thirty seven
North Trion Street. We as always will be keeping in
touch with you up until the event itself next week.
But anything else right now that you need people to know, Emily,
I think.

Speaker 3 (06:41):
It's the biggest thing is you know you can stay
tune what's happening the easiest way with through Instagram and Facebook.
Just follow Claire's Army. That's how we're posting event updates
and file on auction items but I think most importantly
just people knowing that this event just really helps so
many people, helps hundreds of families a year through our

(07:03):
meal program, through the way that we direct assistance financially
for help with housing and food, and then just also
making sure that parents and caregivers feel supported through every
single step of their journey. So every dollar really does
make a difference, and we love the more the more
people that join in, the more families we can serve.

Speaker 2 (07:25):
And we'll get more into this next week. But I've
seen this happen right in front of me, and so
is Beth. I mean, there are there are years where
we've had the gala where we're in the middle of
the actual event and Emily finds out about a need
during the event, and then you know, she ends up
us saying, well, here's what we've done in the last
you know, a few hours. There's very you know, the
red tape is gone from here. If you're looking for

(07:45):
an organization where you can donate and you can know
that the need is filled almost you know the next day,
that's how it works sometimes, And so I've really marveled
at how she gets all this done every year. But
it's good to talk to you and we'll stay in touch.
And again Claire's Army O r G for all the details. Emily,
I'll see you soon.

Speaker 3 (08:04):
Thank you so much, so thanks Seth