Annual Auction is a Fiesta Of Hope

Hundreds of people spent their Friday night (April 8) out at the Fiesta of Hope annual fundraiser at in Saline. Each year the school has a themed auction dinner to raise money for school projects. Money raised from this year’s Mexican Fiesta will go toward scholarships. Tickets to the event were $25.

Sandy Clements, parent and one of the evening’s hostesses, said  “There is such a need for families who can’t afford to come to our school.”

Washtenaw Christian Academy is a private, tuition based school for grades K-12.  According to their website and school mission statement, their mission is to “provide a quality education in a unique Christian atmosphere. The school assists parents in developing the character of Christ in the students so they can become contributing members of their families, church, and society to the glory of God.”

Parents and other visitors were lined out the door, waiting to sign in with their paddle numbers for the auction. 

“It is usually a Fall event” said Marilyn McFerren.  She waited in line behind Tracey and Randy Rubin who have attended the event for the last seven years.

“We have three kids in this school,” Tracey Rubin said, “We love it here.”

Abby Taggert, WCA cheerleading coach, and husband John have been attending for 14 years. 

“We have one child who is an alumni, and still two at the school, and never miss this event,” Abby said.

The school gymnasium, cafetorium, and main hall were completely transformed with bright flowers and flags, streamers, mariachi music, and numerous banners and fiesta décor. The aroma of Mexican food wafted through the halls as visitors and auction bidders waited for the dinner bell. 

Jeff Donat is the Area Director for Macy’s Foods Division, and has catered the event for the past two years. On the menu Friday night was chips and salsa, guacamole, enchiladas, chicken and beef fajitas, Spanish rice, Spanish corn and churros for dessert. Donat and his crew also helped with decorating the venue, and donated a dinner party for eight to the auction. The event was for adults only, but high school students helped serve Mock-aritas with fresh lime, festive non-alcoholic beverages.

The gymnasium was filled with over 200 items donated from families and area businesses. Lisa Crawford, Campus Community Coordinator at the school, spoke of the army of volunteers it takes to put the event together.  “We usually take a full year to prepare, but this year we were able to pull it together in three months!”

Lisa Dolinger, volunteer, concurred. 

“It is a joint effort,” she said "We had very valuable people decorating, and huge business donations from businesses like Borders and Northern Vending.”

This is the first year in the last ten years that the auction wasn’t headed up by Beth and Lou Velker. They received an honorable mention in recognition of their ten years of time and effort. Lou Velker was the Development Director for the school, who partnered with his wife in organizing the event. All three of their children are alumni of the school.

“It’s been very important to us to help the school,” Beth Velker said.

She started as a volunteer for the fundraising project in its sixth year, before she began leading it. 

“To think that we’ve had a part in building this school, down to the floor we are standing on, is why I like what I do,” said Lou Velker. 

His next project for the school will be to open up a resale store on Carpenter Road in Ann Arbor, where he will be the manager.

Sixteen items were available for the live auction. Auctioneer Jim Miller, of Charityauctioneer.com flew in from Chicago, and hasn’t missed a year since the event’s inception.

“I can’t believe it has been sixteen years,” Miller said. “The first year we did this we were looking at an architectural sketch of what the school would look like. Now we’re standing in it.”

In addition to the auction activities, the high school Art department hosted a walk through display called “The Redemption Project.”  Art teacher, Laura Earl, got her students thinking about redemption. 

“At the beginning of the semester I asked students to write for me on a piece of paper what redemption means to you,” Earl said. “We spent a semester and a half really thinking through this process that has turned into what you see here.”

The art display began with “The Crown of Thorns” which were five foot tall thorns, each with a different theme expressing how it feels to be in sin.  As visitors make their way through the display, there are works of modern art through light, water, fire and other mediums.  The exhibit ends with a wall of art journals that each student utilized as they created their works.

The total tallies for the amount raised from the auction are not yet available, but organizers were confident the event was successful.  Washtenaw Christian Academy is located at 7200 Moon Rd. The school is now enrolling for the 2011-2012 school year.