2005 Harvest Moon Auction: Kicking off 40 Years of Bing Nursery School
By Jennifer Winters, Assistant Director
Last fall’s annual Harvest Moon Auction was a sensational event, which raised a record-breaking $320,000 for the Bing Nursery School Scholarship Fund. The auction was the kick-off celebration for the 40th anniversary of Bing.
The new Arrillaga Family Recreation Center was the perfect venue for the auction, providing ample room to display all of the 1,000-plus items waiting to be auctioned off. Balloons and topiaries filled the center, and to top it off the main stage was decorated as one gigantic birthday cake. Dan Chan the Magic Man and the incredible, and truly incomparable Leland Stanford Junior University Marching Band provided entertainment.
Bing is one of the few nursery schools in the country that offers a substantial scholarship program, providing financial aid to more than 20 percent of its families. The scholarship program is an important part of the mission of Bing and it enriches the experience for everyone at Bing.
Raising $320,000 in one evening is by no means an easy feat. First we owe a tremendous thank you to Helen and Peter Bing who generously gave a $50,000 gift. We also thank all of the hard-working volunteers who spent countless hours soliciting auction donations, picking up items, tracking and packing items, moving the inventory, assembling gift baskets, corresponding with donors, putting together the entertainment, setting up the venue, checking guests in and out, monitoring finances and tickets—and of course, cleaning up!
The auctioneer did a spectacular job getting everyone to empty their pockets during the live auction and brought in a record $35,000. Featured items included a road trip in a Lamborghini, a vacation in Kauai, a ski trip to Big White Resort in British Columbia, a perfect night in Napa with dinner at the French Laundry, an autographed Steve Young football helmet, gourmet meals for a month, a lunch and tour of KQED with Michael Krasny and a child’s birthday party put on by Bing teachers Nandini Bhattacharjya and Peckie Peters.
We extend our sincere thanks and appreciation to all who donated, volunteered, attended and participated and we look forward to seeing everyone at next year’s auction for a festive Harvest Haunt on October 28, 2006.
Special accolades goes to two parents who went above and beyond the call of duty—auction co-chairs Laurie Quinn and Diana Ekstrand—and to the auction committee chairs, whose tireless efforts made the entire event a magnificent success.