[The Dessert Dash table presents:
The Calm Before The Storm]
Hey all, a big
thank you to everyone who supported us on Saturday for our annual Auction/Gala. From our fabulous Gala Committee, to our staff and board members, to the Olive 8 crew and everyone who came out in support, we can't thank everyone enough.
A special shout-out to our dedicated volunteer...
-Live Auction Spotters who were there feverishly shaking wands and handing out green feather boas despite having feathers flying all in their eyes and ears.
-Greeters who made guests feel warmly invited the second they walked into the Olive 8.
-Golden Ticket Sellers who wore the a size-too-small gold hats and still sold tickets like mad.
-Live Auction Runners who made like Usain Bolt and sprinted to get winning bids to our computers.
-Guest Registration and Inivtation packaging teams who, despite all forms of papercuts, stuffed envelopes and put together packets like nobody's business.
-Silent Auction folks who recreated the inner workings of a frenzied yet organized and efficient beehive in sorting, packaging and gathering items ranging from a
GT Express Cooker(?!) to an autographed Sue Bird jersey.
-Ambassadors in the community. Whether you told your friend about New Beginnings or commented on our Facebook page, it is through our collective action that we were able to make it all happen that night.
There will be more updates and recaps on
our website and Facebook page but the highlights of the night (for me at least) were:
3. The Dessert Dash was a big crowd-pleaser. I haven't seen people move that fast since the midnight Christmas sale at Wal-Mart. A volunteer who shall remain nameless asked me if it'd be wrong to "accidentally" trip someone to steal their five layer chocolate cake. For the record, I did say it would be wrong.
2. The auctioneer for the night, Larry Snyder, who was an endless source of jokes and one-liners to our volunteers and staff. I now know how to say the plural form of "y'all" - "All y'all."
1. A very emotional speech by a survivor of domestic violence. It was really touching to see her friends, family and her New Beginnings Advocate, Veronica, there to support her. In many ways the night was really about her story.