Tuesday, October 28, 2008

FARA AUCTION ... A HUGE SUCCESS!!

(click images to enlarge)


We started the set up at 9am last Friday, and by 4pm, this is how the little gymnasium was transformed. The view actually gave me goose bumps... all the planning and work for the past several months is now before us! Just an amazing outpouring of generosity. You see the auction hall which is in reality the family hall of our local St Agustine's Catholic Church (graciously donated) and tables, linen, place settings, food, and servers (generously donated by our local Northern Quest Casino), plus the huge array of silent and live auction items lining the walls, all donated from folks all over the US..joined to help find a cure for Friedreich's Ataxia. Later, at 6pm, over 200 attendees filled the room.





And at the beginning of it all... we have the Star of the show, Jessica on the left and Leah on the right. Leah was a major donor, handled finances, loaned her home for storage of donated items; all that and she's good lookin to boot. Note the balloon afgan... in a place of honor, hand crocheted and donated by "Angelfire", a real live angel who also has organized crochetiers from all over the US in raising awareness of FA. Many of the items in the silent auction came from their hooks.




Just one angle showing some of the items donated for the silent auction.




And another



And another!!

Somewhere around 200 items were donated for the event!! And I didn't even get a shot of the desert table... loaded with amazing gourmet deserts that were another highlight of the evening, organized by our gracious gourmet, Sharon Gray.

I'm wishing I'd taken more pictures.. of all the people who helped with the event, and the people who came and opened their hearts and checkbooks for such a great cause.

Thanks to all who donated their time, art, and hearts to this cause! We far exceeded our goal of $25,000!! Isn't that just amazing! And ALL of that money will go directly into research to find a cure or treatment for FA.

So to all who participated, a HUGE thank you!!

Ah but that doesn't mean I've stopped making Chophooks for FARA... far from it! They make great Christmas gifts AND every penny they make goes to find a cure.


Grateful,
Jimbo

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

What a beautiful array the table make and so much love spread around the room. Make the heart feel good.

Cherri said...

That's sooooo wonderful, Jimbo!!! I'm so glad that it was so successful. (Nice pics, too).
Hugs, Cherri

sissie said...

WOW Great job on your success !!! such an amazing turn out!!

hugs,
sissie

angelfire said...

Thank you for the pictures, they are wonderful. I am glad that the auction was a huge success, a little love goes a long ways. Thank you for allowing us to participate.

~Alesha~ said...

That looks like one fantastic event. It's really nice to know that there are people out there who are willing to help others instead of always being concerned with themselves.

Thank YOU for being such a big part of it. I didn't even know that FA existed until I read it on your blog.

Take care.

Joyce said...

Thanks for posting the photos Jimbo. It's so nice to see what a huge success your auction was.

annie said...

Thank you for posting the pics, Jimbo! It warms my heart to know that it was such a success!
Hugs,
Ann