BACIO stands for “Because A Cure Is Obtainable”. It also means “kiss” in Italian.
BACIO 2017
January 2nd – January 31st
When Antonio Sauro, Doug Grisdale and Rob Parrott opened Mangia E Bevi in April 2007, we wanted to do something to give back to our community. Our families had been touched by cancer. Doug’s mother and Antonio’s mother-in-law, Daphne Grisdale had died from cancer in July 2006 and Rob Parrott’s 10 year old daughter Julia had been battling cancer for 3 years.
In January 2008 we had our first fundraiser, calling it BACIO, to benefit Oncology Research at BC Children’s Hospital and the Oncology Clinic at Lions Gate Hospital in North Vancouver. For the month of January, we featured Festa Invernale (A Winter Feast), a 3-course dinner for $40. Of the $40, we donated $5 to BC Children’s Hospital and $5 to Lions Gate Hospital. We donated $10,000 from this menu and raised an additional $5,100 from our generous guests and staff, for a grand total of $15,100.
In January 2009, BACIO returned to Mangia E Bevi. We again featured a 3-course dinner for $40 and the proceeds again benefited BC Children’s Hospital and Lions Gate Hospital. In ’09 we changed the menu weekly featuring a different region of Italy each week to encourage people to come again and again. For ’09, we raised a total of $12,200.
January 2010 brought the third Annual BACIO 3-course dinner fundraiser. This year we finished the month with a special party on January 31. Including very generous donations made at the party, our total raised for 2010 was $52,542. With over $30,000 raised in 2011 and over $37,000 in 2012 brought our five year total to $146,000.
Fast forward to January 2016 and our other business, Caffe Al Mercato joined the fun. And we raised a total of $37,000 bringing our grand total to an amazing $308,000.
Many thanks to our patrons and staff for their assistance in reaching this amount. BACIO will be returning on January 2, 2017.
In November 2014, we were honored by the Association of Fundraising Professionals of Vancouver on National Philanthropy Day. We received their annual Giving Hearts award for Outstanding Small Business.
See a video presentation here>>
