Newsroom The Donalda Club hosted the second annual Daniel Nestor Celebrity Charity Event, a two-day affair raising money for Tennis Canada's Go for Gold Fund as well as funds for North York General Hospital's expanding Orthopaedic & Plastics Clinic (OPC). "These are great causes and it's nice to be here - it's something I like to do," said Nestor. "I think it's important for professional athletes to give back to society, helping the less fortunate." The weekend's events began Saturday at 7:00 p.m. with a once-in-a-lifetime dinner, prepared by one of Canada's top chefs, Susur Lee, as well as a Silent Auction. Over 250 people attended this spectacular evening, enjoying delectable food from Lee and bidding aggressively on a variety of auction items. On Sunday morning, Nestor and Knowles were joined by local celebrities, such as Gord Martineau, anchor for CityPulse News, Chef Susur Lee, and Jake Gold from Canadian Idol, for the Celebrity Pro-Am tournament. Later in the day, Nestor and Knowles took on Donalda Club Pro, Karl Hale and Andrew Sznajder in a doubles exhibition match, winning 7-6. Thanks to the dynamic doubles machine of Nestor and Knowles, as well as the Donalda Club and the hard work of many, many volunteers, over $60,000 was raised at this year's event, more than doubling last year's total of $30,000. Tennis Canada's Go for Gold program aims to develop children's tennis skills at an early age through a development program, assisting potential Olympians for the 2008 Olympics. North York General Hospital is currently raising funds to re-build and expand its OPC. Last year, over 14,400 people needed the services of the Hospital's orthopaedic and plastics specialists to repair fractures, skin and tissue incisions and repair or replace joints. With patient visits quadrupling recently, these funds will go towards building a larger, better-designed clinic, fully modernized with the latest state-of-the-art equipment. For more information: Colin Longhurst
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