By Sandi Gedeon, Administrative Director
This year, the Bing Harvest Moon Auction moved to the spring and was rebranded as the Bing Spring Gala. The 34th annual auction, with a Roaring ’20s theme, was held on April 20 at Bing Nursery School for the first time since 2001. Many families were excited to join us for this wonderful fundraiser to support the Bing Nursery School Scholarship Fund, which provides tuition support for families in need. Once again, Helen and Peter Bing were major benefactors, kicking off the auction with a generous gift of $50,000. In total, the auction raised over $300,000.
As guests arrived dressed in flapper dresses, gangster suits, feathers, boas, and bling, they were greeted by a vintage car photo op in front of the school and entertained by a beautiful jazz duo, Rebecca DuMaine (a former Bing parent) and her father, Dave Miller. The school was transformed to evoke the 1920s, with a speakeasy set up on the classroom patios serving Gin Rickeys and Paloma cocktails. Flickering votive candles, feathers, and black-and-gold décor added to the Jazz Age atmosphere. B&B Catering and Events provided us with a delicious 1920s-themed menu of buttermilk fried chicken sandwiches, chilled prawns, sliced sirloin of beef, and B&B’s cheese puffs. Desserts were donated by Chuao Chocolatier and Cocola Bakery, and coffee was donated by Coupa Café and Konditorei. Champagne, wine, and beer were donated by J. Lohr, The Willows Market, and Just Enough Wines. We would like to extend our gratitude to our generous sponsors: Charlotte and Peter Deng; Jess Gao; The Gasol Family; Michelle Hewlett; Jacob Levy and Thalita Berpan; Dr. Michelle Haghpanah and Dr. Reena Grover of Little Bytes Pediatric Dentistry; Liz Stinson; Laura Yip and Man-Hay Tam; Ledell, Meihong, and Forest Wang.
Once guests arrived at the speakeasy, they made their way into the classrooms to bid on more than 250 silent auction items, buy-a-spot events with over 15 teacher-sponsored events, and more than 40 child-themed class gift baskets up for auction.
Bing head teacher Todd Erickson and his co-auctioneer, former Bing parent Adam Tobin, again proved to be the perfect pair to conduct the live auction. With humor and persistence, more than 10 items were auctioned off, including a private chef dining experience with Vallarino Events, an opportunity for a child to be an honorary bookseller at the legendary Linden Tree Books in Los Altos, dinner with teachers Nandini and Parull, a behind-the-scenes aquarium tour at the California Academy of Sciences, an Opus One Once-in-a-Lifetime Wine Experience for four plus a magnum of the Kindergarten Vintage, and many more. We raised more than $80,000 during our live auction, including bids for the ever-popular Fund a Scholarship, which solicits cash donations for the Bing Scholarship Fund. Prior to the auction, we had already raised $102,000 for this fund. Our online auction, through BiddingforGood, included more than 75 items and event buy-a-spots and raised more than $20,000.
As always, we wouldn’t have a successful auction without our wonderful auction co-chairs, Amanda Donahue and Shara Watkins. We thank them for their vision, leadership, creativity, and dedication. We are also extremely grateful for the parent volunteers, who worked on 17 committees, and our dedicated teachers and staff. A big thank-you to those who supported this important event by donating, attending the gala, and bidding on items. Our success is attributed to every member of the Bing community!
For Bing’s 35th gala, we will be returning to a Harvest Moon Auction. Mark your calendars for December 7, 2024. We look forward to seeing everyone there!