Overwhelming response

At the "Shine Bright Like a Diamond" fundraising gala at Vingard, near Arrowtown, on Saturday night, which raised money for terminally ill Queenstown 12-year-old Meila Davis are (from left) cancer survivor and MC David Downs with Meila’s parents, Kristen and Hayden Davis.

The trio are pictured with a rare Caribou wall mount, from Swift River, Alaska, one of several items auctioned off live at the event.

About $100,000 was raised through the live and silent auction, proceeds of which will help pay for the potentially life-saving treatment Meila will receive next month when she travels to the United States for the second stage of a clinical trail, being undertaken at the University of North Carolina.