By Sandi Gedeon, Business Manager
"Venice at Midnight” was the theme for Bing’s 29th annual Harvest Moon Auction. The event was held Nov. 11, 2017, at the Arrillaga Alumni Center on the Stanford University campus. The annual fundraising event raised over $340,000 for the Bing Scholarship Fund, which provides assistance to over 20 percent of the children who attend Bing. As in past years, Helen and Peter Bing were strong supporters, with a generous gift of $50,000.
As guests arrived, they strolled across a charming version of the bridge over the Grand Canal into the city of Venice. The venue was beautifully decorated with street lamps, gondolas and Venetian masks. Guests enjoyed the “Venetian Sunset” specialty cocktails and came dressed in gondolier and elegant Venetian attire.
More than 600 items were up for bid at the silent auction, and over 100 items were sold through our online auction, where over $20,000 was raised. Bing teachers Todd Erickson and Lars Gustafson, dressed as gondoliers, took the stage as MCs and auctioneers for the live auction, which raised over $58,000. Auction items included a celebration at Bird Dog Restaurant for 12, a weekend in a luxurious St. Helena home, tennis lessons with tennis legends, and making gelato in a park with two Bing teachers. The tennis lessons and the gelato making were so popular that the donors agreed to host a second event. Bing’s own resident carpenter, Gene Aiken, used his creative talents to build a beautiful vintage gelato cart for children, which sold for an incredible $12,300. The ever-popular “Fund a Scholarship”—a live bidding item with straight cash donations going directly to the Bing Scholarship Fund—raised over $38,000 that evening, with an additional $140,000 raised prior to the auction.
More than 40 events for children, families and adults were also auctioned off, including a bread-making party with teachers, a cooking class for children, a pizza-and-movie night for adults, a dads’ poker night, a taste-of-Tuscany dinner, a children’s pizza party and the Bing campout. We appreciate the work and donations of parents in each classroom who put together over 50 class baskets, with themes including “ice cream shop,” “prehistoric fun on the go,” “in the garden,” “let the imagination soar” and “modern art to go.”
Bidding on one of the many exciting auction items.
The food, catered again this year by Weir & Associates Catering, was in keeping with the theme and featured tomato basil soup, caprese sandwiches, Italian antipasto platters and assorted mini biscotti. Tin Pot Creamery and Peet’s Coffee & Tea donated additional dessert and coffee for the evening, and other business donors included Hengehold Trucks, TaskRabbit, Mount Aukum Winery, The Farm Fund, and Willamettte Valley Vineyards. Our generous family sponsors for the evening were the Acton Family, Marissa Mayer and Zachary Bogue, the Xu Family Foundation, Gavin and Joanna Pratt, and Lauren and Michael Angelo.
A big thank-you goes out to our auction co-chairs—Gilda Foss, Margarita Golod and Melissa Miranda—for their vision, leadership and dedication. We couldn’t have done it without them. We are also extremely grateful to our parent volunteers—over 200 strong—who worked on over 20 committees. A special thank-you to those who donated to the auction and to those who attended. The tremendous dedication of our parents, Bing teachers and staff made the auction what it was—a tremendous success!
We look forward to seeing everyone again at this year’s auction on Saturday, Dec. 1, 2018.
AUCTION CO-CHAIRS: Gilda Foss, Margarita Golod and Melissa Miranda
COMMITTEE CHAIRS: Cargo Carriers: Ilya Kirnos • Check-In: Jen Glos, Rona Yang • Check-Out: Sam Brin, Patama Gur, Amanda Munoz • Class Gifts: Carrie Colet, Cindy Lee • Clean-Up: Daniel Francisco, Billy Lee, Paul Narain • Closing Auction Tables: Caitlyn Darke, Sandy Robles • Correspondence: Cathy Cullinane, Charlotte Deng, Mandy Gullick, Catherine Stoll • Creative Writing: Shalyn Eason, Renata Quintini, Kimberley Rosen • Data Entry: Jennifer Yeh • Decorations: Julia Anderson, Annie Lee, Emily Lopez • Display and Setup: Maddy Elles-Hill, Parinaz Mohamadi • Events: Caroline Keirsey, Elizabeth Laraki • Food and Beverage: Annie Turner, Cameron Turner • Graphic Design: Julia Anderson • Inventory: Marta Gwiazdowska-Kowalska • Online Auction: Suzy Francisco • Packers and Movers: Michael Flynn, Matt Robles • Runners: Karina Etminani, Payam Etminani • Solicitations: Kelly Griggs, Sush Prabhakar, Euni Valentine, Meredith Zappert • Sponsorships/Family Ads: Margarita Golod • Ticket Trackers: Cindy Dodd, Emily Lopez