By BTL Staff
MotorBall, a Geared for Life event that returned for its second year on June 6 under Michigan AIDS Coalition management, raised a record amount for the agency. Over 750 people danced at St. Andrew's Hall in Detroit for over eight hours to four DJs on two floors, with five drag queens and 12 of Metro Detroit's hottest male dancers keeping the party going.
"Our second year reboot of this famous Detroit event raised over $15,000 for our agency, in great part due to a 50 percent increase in guest attendance," said Terry Ryan, CEO of MAC. "The energy and vibrancy of a big gay dance party is awesome. We want to give the Detroit area LGBTQ community a big shout out and say thank you for your great support."
MotorBall was made possible through the support of presenting sponsors, Five15 and Gary Baglio. Other sponsors included Greektown Casino, Gilead, Jason Misleh, Michael Helton & Andrew Geers, Sam Alqattan, NalPac, Between the Lines, OutPost and Metra.
"Bringing this event back from an early retirement has been an immense amount of work, but it's a labor of love," said Eddie Mulak, director of Geared for Life. "Detroit's comeback has been staggering and wonderful. As we continue to become a summer travel destination, we need and, quite honestly, deserve a high quality, 'big room' dance party here in the region. I'm so proud of our team who helped produce MotorBall 2015 and I'm humbled by the response of the community."
The annual event takes place on the Saturday night of Motor City Pride in downtown Detroit at the historic St Andrew's Hall. Guests attending MotorBall were dazzled by great special effects, sound and a special performance featuring Sabin, DeAngela 'Show' Shannon and Andrew Christian's Super Stud Topher DiMaggio. DJs from Chicago, Toronto and Detroit kept the crowds moving all night long.
"Raising funds for HIV/AIDS outreach, testing and prevention has been, and always will be, one of my passions. I'm honored to have been asked to take the helm of producing a high quality, amazingly fun fundraiser for MAC," Mulak said. "I have some pretty lofty ideas and plans for 2016. I just hope Detroit's LGBTQ community is ready for what we're bringing next year!"
Geared for Life, the original organization that produced MotorBall and The GEAR Party, became part of MAC in 2014. Mulak said that MotorBall style parties aren't going to just be a once a year event. "MotorBall will continue to be our signature event. We've got some plans for various parties to help build momentum and energy for MotorBall throughout the year. Stay tuned, you're going to like what we've got planned."
