From humble beginnings
In 2010, after a disappointing fiscal return on the Salvation Army Door Knock Appeal and due to lost interest in door knocking across the community there had to be a better way to raise much-needed funds for the Salvation Army. At the time, the Chair of the Door Knock Appeal, Shelley Evans-Wild, said that she would rather organise a ball and raise $50,000 than go through a disappointing Door Knock Appeal again.
Her words became a reality when after a few glasses of red and reflecting on the Salvation Army logo; ‘Ruby’ was born - the colour of the Salvo’s logo and perhaps a little too much red wine! With assistance from Bob Fowler, Chair of the Red Shield Business Appeal, they enlisted the support of others and so began the quest to host the Ruby Ball.
In late 2011 Shelley and Simon Wild hosted an evening with 50 business and community leaders to launch the concept of the Ruby Ball and invited them to pledge to buy 10 tickets to attend the ball. Over 250 pledges came in! With this many people committed to attending, an excited coordination team started to implement Operation Ruby Ball.Making the Ruby Ball a success is not up to the efforts of one person - but the combined collateral of many.
