2007 Brazilian Carnival Ball

The 41st annual Brazilian Carnival Ball took place in Toronto on Saturday, April 21, 2007 and the beneficiary is the Arthritis & Autoimmunity Research Centre Foundation in Partnership with University Health Network. Based upon Rio de Janeiro's sexy and exciting Carnival, the entertainment consisted of beautiful colorful costumes, great Brazilian dancers, and the samba beat. The mission of the Brazilian Carnival Ball is to raise money for charitable causes in the areas of education, culture, health care and research. In traditional Toronto style, the attendees were for the most part, beautifully dressed in black tie missing an opportunity to let loose. Organizers of this Ball claim that it "has raised more than $ 44 million net for numerous causes in healthcare, research, education and culture in Canada and Brazil." This beautiful event attracts more than 1,700 carnival revelers from the elite of Toronto's fashion, society, business and the arts.

This ball raised $ 2 million for the Accolade Project Faculty of Fine Arts at York University in 2006. In 2005, the Brazilian Carnival Ball raised $ 2.1M for the Toronto General Hospital - Peter Munk Cardiac Centre and in 2004, this Ball raised $2 M to support the Orthopaedic and Arthritic Institute (OAI) at Sunnybrook and Women's College Health Sciences Centre which is an international leader in muscular skeletal and rehabilitation care with expertise in arthritis, rheumatology, spinal care, sports injuries and orthopaedic nursing.

the Arthritis & Autoimmunity Research Centre

Experts say that there are more than one hundred different types of arthritis and related autoimmune conditions which is a condition which occurs when your body misreads its cells as foreign entities and consequently produces antibodies that attack these healthy cell. This can lead to diseases such as scleroderma or lupus. Juvenile diabetes and multiples sclerosis are among the non-arthritic autoimmune disorders. The University Health Network partners with the Toronto General Hospital, Toronto Western Hospital and the Princess Margaret Hospital in a shared innovative research and houses more than one hundred researchers at the Arthritis & Autoimmunity Research Centre to find cures for arthritis and autoimmune diseases.

This was an extemely exciting event for a great cause. For tickets for next year's Ball, check out Brazilian Carnival Ball's web site by clicking on this web page - or check back here next year for info on the 42nd Brazilian Carnival Ball 2008!!!!