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They’re two very different nights on Ottawa’s social calendar, but Spurs & Sparkles and the Lumière Gala have one pretty important thing in common: RBC.

As presenting sponsor of both events, Canada’s largest bank has helped raise more than $1 million over four years for Queensway Carleton Hospital Foundation, with proceeds supporting patient care at the west-end hospital.

Both events sold out last year and again this year,  which are a sign of the community’s strong support for Queensway Carleton Hospital (QCH), said Shannon Gorman, president and CEO of QCH Foundation.

“Strong community hospitals are built on strong community partnerships, and we are incredibly grateful for RBC’s commitment to Queensway Carleton Hospital and the people we serve,” said Gorman.

QCH is one of many organizations supported by RBC and its charitable arm, RBC Foundation. In 2025 alone, RBC and the RBC Foundation provided more than $101 million in cash donations and another $55 million in community investments across Canada.

QCH Foundation board member Dion Farentino, RBC’s regional vice president of integrated markets for Ottawa West & Valley, sees the hospital support as just the beginning. “I’m very proud of the level of investment that RBC has made over the past four years, and we’re going to keep looking for ways to do even more,” said Farentino, who joined the foundation board two years ago.

Farentino moved to Ottawa from Toronto in 2022 and began exploring opportunities to give back through board service. Living near the west-end village of Carp, he became interested in supporting Queensway Carleton Hospital, which he feels can sometimes be overshadowed by Ottawa’s larger hospitals.

Farentino said he has tremendous respect for those who work in health care. “These are people caring for us at some of the most stressful and difficult moments of our lives.”

That respect has made his work with the QCH Foundation especially rewarding. “I get to collaborate with a lot of very impressive business leaders, and Shannon brings such passion and energy to her role,” he said. “She was the one who roped me in, for lack of a better term.”

It’s a pretty fitting choice of words when the conversation turns to the equestrian-themed Spurs & Sparkles. Held at Wesley Clover Parks, the fundraiser brings together business leaders, accomplished show jumpers and local personalities willing to test their skills in a series of sporting challenges, including a golf cart obstacle course.

Team RBC took home the Get Up & Gallop trophy in 2025.

“I love Spurs & Sparkles just for its uniqueness,” said Farentino. “I don’t know any other charity events in Ottawa like it.”

Melissa Lamb, co-host of CTV Your Morning Ottawa, and Dion Farentino, a regional vice president at RBC and volunteer board member of the Queensway Carleton Hospital Foundation, teamed up for the Get Up & Gallop competition at the 2025 Spurs & Sparkles fundraiser. Photo by Lindsay Germano

Dion Farentino, regional vice-president, Integrated Markets, Ottawa West & Valley, at RBC; 2026 Spurs & Sparkles co-chair Catherine McLaughlin; Queensway Carleton Hospital Foundation president and CEO Shannon Gorman; and 2026 Spurs & Sparkles co-chair Karen Sparks, at Wesley Clover Parks. Photo by Lindsay Germano

The Lumière Gala follows a more familiar gala formula: business networking, great food and drink, live entertainment, auctions and prizes, with a different theme helping set the mood each year. Its flashy fireworks finale is hardly your standard gala send-off.

The evening is held in Kanata at Brookstreet Hotel, owned by prominent tech entrepreneur Terry Matthews, who helped shape Kanata North into the technology hub it is today. Matthews is also founder and chairman of Wesley Clover International, a global private investment firm focused on entrepreneurship, innovation and technology.

Part of Lumière’s appeal, said Farentino, is the mix of people it brings together. “For me, it’s about having the right people in the room,” he said.

For RBC, many of those relationships are already well established. The bank is well plugged into Kanata North through its technology and innovation arm, RBCx. It also has close ties to Hub350, a gathering place for Kanata North’s tech community, including companies, investors and academic partners.

“RBC is not only a very strong proponent and partner, but we also help fund a lot of the activity and growth happening within that ecosystem,” said Farentino.

From left, Ray Rashed, managing director of banking at RBCx; Kevin Landreville, director of real estate at RBC; RBC vice president Karl Quinn; Brookstreet Hotel owner Terry Matthews, founder and chairman of Wesley Clover International; Queensway Carleton Hospital president and CEO Dr. Andrew Falconer; and Jake Malette, vice president of banking at RBCx, at the Lumière Charity Gala: From Paris with Love. Photo by Caroline Phillips

As much as Farentino enjoys the show jumping, fireworks and friendly competition, he says the real draw is what both events are raising money for: QCH’s top priorities, including the purchase of lifesaving medical devices and equipment.

“You don’t always realize how much you need a hospital — or how important it is to support it — until the day you really need it,” said Farentino.

For Gorman, the support of RBC, Wesley Clover Parks and Brookstreet Hotel for Spurs & Sparkles and Lumière shows what can happen when local organizations come together for something that matters: making sure people can get the best possible health care, right here at home.

“Every investment in QCH is an investment in our families, our neighbours and the future health and well-being of our entire community,” said Gorman.

The Lumière Gala returns to Brookstreet Hotel next Thursday, Sept. 10. It’s officially sold out.

This article is made possible through sponsorship from Star Motors, WEALTH (WCPD), Syntax Strategic, RBC, Marilyn Wilson Dream Properties, ExecHealth, Altis Recruitment, Bell Canada, First Avenue Investment Counsel, Welch LLP, Brazeau Seller Law, Prime Benefits Group, and Ottawa Rapid FC.

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