The numbers and the names piled up. Seventeen hundred people — a sold out house — filtered into the Austin Convention Center for the Livestrong gala on Friday.

Even before bidding on auction items, they had raised more than $1 million for the anti-cancer charity. Livestrong staff forecast that, before the evening ended, they’d gross $2.5 million.

The crowd split between Austinwide donors like Suzanne Booth and Becky Beaver , wiry folks like Seattle’s Andrew Steinbrecher and Tyler Wain who were in Austin for the Challenge, and others like Jody and Doug Feil from Frisco who work for other cancer groups.

Among the announced celebrities, only Maria Shriver canceled, citing a conflicting engagement.

That left Robin Williams, Sean Penn, Norah Jones, Stephen Marley, along with athletes like Eric Shanteau, Quan Cosby and Bo Jackson.

Inside the vast hall, guests were greeted by a giant media display that brightly and loudly recounted the history of Livestrong and the half a billion dollars it has raised for anti-cancer causes.

The question on everybody’s lips: Would founder Lance Armstrong’s troubles affect the charity?

“Like Livestrong, we cancer survivors are committed to the cause,” Steinbrecher said. “I hope people separate Lance the cyclist from Lance the philanthropist.”

A warm, open Armstrong spoke briefly: “We are grateful for your support,” he said. “We don’t take it for granted. We try to be good stewards. This mission is bigger than me. It’s bigger than any individual.”

He quoted Martin Luther King Jr. “We must accept finite disappointment but never lose infinite hope.”

“The people in this room have infinite hope,” he continued. “The mission absolutely must go on. We will not be deterred. We will go forward. There are 28 million people around the world who need us.”