Donations | At the Conference
See the 2009 Conference Recap

An Extra Extra Fun Foundation Night in Boston

Over $20,000 Raised for Foundation Programs

FAWCO Conferences are jam-packed with only a few days in which to take care of organizational business and inform members of the myriad of different concerns FAWCO is working on for the clubs.  One night at each conference, FAWCO hands the reins to The FAWCO Foundation for a Fundraising bash.  In Boston,  March 12th was the “Extra Extra Extravaganza” which played on the journalism sub theme of the  conference and turned the Georgian Room into a newsprinted  tribute to all that is “black and white and red all over”.

Foundation Night gives the conference organizers a night off, and while it is a serious event to raise money for  next year’s Development Grants and Education Awards, there is also a real sense of fun as attendees get a “little” competive with their outfits and  as they vie for the global goodies on the silent auction tables. The Foundation is very grateful of the sponsorship from FAUSA member Dale Koepenick’s husband James Schaeffer, President , North American Public Sector of CSC which allowed us to enjoy some great  wine throughout  the night. EileenO’Duill arranged the donation of Bailey’s liquor for the tables from R.A. Bailey and Diageo Ltd of Ireland.

The ballroom was festooned with black, white and red balloon centerpieces  and tables decked with red and newsprint runners.  There were black and white framed glossy 8x10 photos of famous women journalists from Nellie Bly, to Christine Amanpour to Brenda Starr on each table.  The screen in the front of the room continuously blasted headlines of Foundation News and descriptions of Live Auction prizes.  While our guests embraced the color theme of the night, some went “extreme” with their outfits. There were newspaper hats and intrepid reporters and a few went with a touch of forties glamour and newsprint dresses.  Ever present were the little headline print pillbox hats that Foundation volunteers wore while working the tables selling charms and bling.  Leslie Collingridge was our “cigarette” girl for the night selling chocolate cigars and candy Target cigarettes.

The back half of the room was dedicated to the 300 plus objects that FAWCO clubs and individuals generously donated for the Silent Auction.  Row after row of tables named after a host of global newspapers held the unique items that members brought from around the world.  

Dining, Learning, and Laughing

After leisurely placing their silent auction bids, guests settled down to dinner of Caesar Salad and Baked Scrod and watched a very moving presentation on the work of the FAWCO Foundation does on behalf of FAWCO clubs by Elsie Bose, the outgoing FAWCO Foundation President.  A picture often is worth a thousand words and certainly this presentation was ample motivation for the generous bidding during the evening; it  was very moving. To lighten the mood the attendees with the most “Paparazzi worthy” outfits were brought onstage to thunderous applause. There were some great looks but Janelle Mason was deemed the most Paparazzi worthy dame of the night.

Silent Auction and Stop the Press Dress

In a twist this year, half of the silent auction tables were closed  with the second half following about five minutes later, creating a little bit of excitment as bidders had to make two mad dashes to  make their final bids ontheir  favorite items. When all was totaled, the Silent Auction brought in $8,500.
At  the end of the silent auction, the live auction began.  There is a great deal of uncertainty and stress when trying to collect the Live Auction Prizes …this year we actually ended up with  too many prizes for the live auction and we ended up putting a few of them into the silent auction just to make sure that they weren’t  turning off the lights and cleaning up the room while we were still bidding!  First up was lovely Elizabeth Kennedy, the model for “The Stop the Press Dress”, a fashionista ensemble cobbled together from donations from the various clubs.

Live Auction Bidding

On the auction block also were fabulous vacations:  A Tuscan cooking school as well as a Tuscan B&B, a Florence area B&B, a Southampton stay, a beach retreat in Puerto Rico, a vacation in an historic Surrey Home, a city break in Vienna and our FAWCO President put her vacation home in Lanzerote up for grabs.  Unique to this Live Auction were several necklaces crafted by Brenda Loomis and Corrine Ocon from earrings sent in by FAWCO members around the world. One of the necklaces and several bracelets went into the Silent Auction but three were heavily bid on during the Live Auction. Also on the block was an exquisite necklace donated by the AWC Korea.  Janet Darrow-Winter served as the auctioneer with her husband Doug acting as Vanna White. When the bidding was done the Live Auction netted over $12,000 for DGs and Awards. The Live Auction was followed by a cheesecake desert and the scramble to check out and collect one’s winnings.

The 2010 Friendship Quilt: Tea-rific!

The Fabulous FAWCO Friendship Quilt designed  by Roberta Zollner from quilt squares sent in by FAWCO clubs was displayed in the ballroom, but missing were the familiar FAWCO faces hawking raffle tickets.  Due to State gaming laws, we could not hold the raffle in Massachusetts. The raffle was held after the conference when we drove over the State line and pulled the winning ticket. It was a bit of a comical caper but the beautiful quilt made over $4,000 for The Foundation. Read more.

Special Thanks go to...

A special Thanks to the clubs and club members who donated and bid on the silent and live auction prizes. More Thanks to those who took the time from the busy conference schedule to sort and catalogue prizes, set up the auction, make the powerpoint presentation, guard the prizes, sort the winnings, sell items and help out in so many ways. Finally, each of the outgoing FAWCO Foundation Board: Elsie Bose, Liz Hemminger, Suzanne Wheeler, Janet Darrow-Winter, Rachel McNally, Dolores Cuellar, and Arline Coward contributed mightily to making The Foundation night Extravaganza something extra special for all of us and left the new board with a good start for next year’s Programs.

Janet Darrow-Winter
The FAWCO Foundation
VP Fundraising

See the 2009 Vilnius, Lithuania Conference recap