At Community Christian School's "Spring Forward in Faith" fundraiser Saturday, the objective was not only to raise money, but to celebrate family and friends.
The event, held at First Presbyterian Church, is the school's biggest fundraising effort of the year, said Nancyann Thompson, development committee head.
"It's not just school families and staff support," Thompson said. "It's friends, friends of friends, anyone who has an interest in Christian education."
The evening featured a dinner, activities and both silent and live auctions to benefit the school, with all proceeds going to support scholarships, technologies and classroom improvements.
"We're a tuition-based school, but we also rely on scholarships," Thompson said. "The idea is we want to provide Christian education for any child or family that wants it. So we try to make that happen no matter what the circumstances are."
Saturday's was the second effort at a fundraising in this format. The last such event was two years ago, for the school's 30th anniversary.
"It was so successful. And everyone just kept saying, when are we going to do that again?" Thompson said. "It was fun, there was great fellowship, and it raised a lot of money."
The fundraiser emphasized informality, Thompson said. There was even a kid's corner, where the school's hot lunch coordinator - a clown in her spare time - did face painting.
"This is a total family event," Thompson said. "It's a picnic atmosphere. That's why we like to do it in the spring. It's a great day. It's 70 degrees out, so it's perfect."
During the dinner, emceed by CCS board member Doug Spencer, guests looked at the hundreds of items donated by local businesses and families for the auctions. These included both goods and services, from scholarships to Hidden Acres camp to oil changes. Also offered, an extreme room makeover with paint supplied by Sherwin Williams and Tracy Bachman Painting, a Lizard Creek kayaking and lunch package, auto detailing by Kemna Auto, a getaway to King's Point water park, a hot air balloon ride that can be taken anywhere in the country, smoked porkchops, and homemade ice cream for 25 people.
There were even items for the school's children to bid on, including being principal for a day and a pizza party with an extra 15 minutes of recess.
In addition to being able to participate in the auction, the school's students also contributed directly to the fundraiser. The grades worked together as a single class and created gifts to be auctioned off.
The seventh- and eighth-grade junior high students put together a book of their favorite sweet treat recipes, and bought all of the ingredients needed to make them.
The fifth- and sixth-graders made rival Hawkeye and Cyclone gift baskets.
The first-, second- and third-grade classes hand-painted large, clay flower pots with themes based on books such as "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" and "A Home for Hermit the Crab." These were displayed as the centerpiece around the stage.
All together, there were 189 silent auction items and 20-25 live auctions items, Thompson said.
At its last fundraiser, the school raised about $16,000, an amount Thompson hoped to have exceeded once the final tabulations are done. They won't know how much they've raised until after a couple of days, though, since donations continued to arrive after the event, mostly from people who were unable to attend.
"I can't imagine with 200 auction items that we're not going to meet or beat it," Thompson said. "We've sold over 300 tickets at this point. Last time we had about 250, and we've already sold more tickets than that. So we're hoping that even with the tough economy we'll make more money."
Thompson said the evening was fun, and that everyone at the school had been looking forward to it eagerly.
"There's been a lot of energy in the classes, at school," she said. "And I think that's what happens when you have all your families, your classrooms, your teachers and your alumni supporters all working together. I think that's why we named it 'Spring Forward in Faith.' It's just an idea of opportunity and building on the foundation that we've already built here at CCS."
Contact Brandon L. Summers at (515) 573-2141 or bsummers@messengernews.net
