For A Good Cause
Last night we attended the Sacramento Waldorf School annual fund-raising auction. The theme this year was Once Upon a Time, and I was surprised at how many attendees wore costumes. (Note to self for next year!) My parents were supposed to go, too, but they ended up being double-booked, so they gave us their tickets and we were able to invite Ian’s sister and her boyfriend, Matt. Lord knows why they wanted to go, but they did, and they even seemed to have a good time.
The various items on auction were wonderful. Of course there were plenty of business donations, such as family portraits, laser hair removal, wine tasting tours. There were many luxury items like 7-night stays in Mexico and 3-night stays in Vegas and a week in a luxury resort in the Dominican Republic up for auction. These brought in lots of dollars for the school. Many other items were handcrafted by parents, members of the community, and even students of the school. Each class creates a group project for the auction and some of these are truly spectacular. The eighth grade class created beautiful black and white etched tiles that portrayed various wild animals. These were mounted in grids and were unique and striking works of art (I wanted to win one of these). The third grade needle-felted two large wall hangings with woodland and farm scenes, complete with sunny skies and vegetable patches and animals.
The star of the show, however, was the first-grade project: a gorgeous natural (pine?) wood bench inlaid with ceramic tiles decorated by the first graders. Each child got to paint his or her tile. The bench was golden, smooth and sturdy, and very large—big enough for four or so adults to sit on at one time. Lucas’s tile had math on it!
12 = 6 + 6
12 = 8 + 4
Although many people bid on it at first, it soon came down to two first-grade fathers who really wanted that bench! They bid and bid and bid. The crowd became very animated and excited as the dollar amount went up. $2,000. $3,000. $5,500! The winning bid was $7,900! It was truly shocking and wonderful. Everyone in the room went wild. Then, the first-grade father who had crafted the bench (not one of the warring bidders) stepped up and announced he was willing to make another bench. The auctioneer promptly railroaded the loser into matching the final bid of $7,900 to get his own bench! So, it seems there will be two such gorgeous objects in the world, and the first graders each have another tile to paint. The school gets $15,800 out of the deal. And I suppose two well-off daddies get treasures and big ol’ tax write-offs. Win win win.
Ian and I didn’t end up winning anything, although we did bid on several smallish items. We did contribute $250 to the library fund, which raised over $33,000 last night. The funds will be used to buy new books, refurbish the room and furnishings, and purchase computers. It is very easy to contribute to improving a library fund, I found.
So, all told, we’re down about $476, with tickets, drinks, a couple of chance games, and our library contribution. And although times are tight and we sometimes worry about cash-out versus cash-in, it feels like it was a successful evening all the way around.
Much thanks to the B family for watching our kids so we could go out, see our friends, and watch the school rake in the cash! We love you!
EDIT: Oh, I forgot to mention, my book and gnomes and fairy donation netted the school $45.
