There was holiday spirit all around at the inaugural Mistletoe and Merlot event hosted by the Canadian Cancer Society on Saturday.

Taking place at Creating Arts in Southern Alberta (CASA), the fundraising event combined art with a good cause.

The first event of its kind for the Canadian Cancer Society here in Lethbridge, the event brought together over 75 people. With six local artists contributing 43 pieces of art, the event was hoping to raise around $5,000.

Scott Paterson, event organizer, says he wanted to do an event for the holidays and began talking with local galleries, artists and using social media to reach out.

“The Canadian Cancer Society, my unit office, we’ve never really had any events for the Christmas holidays and I’ve always wanted to fix that,” says Patterson.

The evening’s event included an art showcase, wine bar, silent auction, a fashion show from Candie Co. and music.
All of the art pieces sold saw 50 per cent of the proceeds go towards the Canadian Cancer Society. Nikole Quaiscer, volunteer and artist, was thrilled to involve local artists.

“We really wanted to involve up and coming local artists, people who you know normally wouldn’t have the opportunity to share their art,” says Quaiscer.

While this was the first Mistletoe and Merlot, Paterson says they are already looking for how they can improve for next year’s event. Every month the Canadian Cancer Society looks to host or be part of an event, to spread the word and raise money.