Last weekend was the 2015 Miracle Ball that I chaired. It was an absolutely wonderful event that a bunch of family and friends were able to come to as well! And, of course, I loved seeing all those months of our team's hard work pay off with an incredible event that raised over $50,000! The foundation's goal was $30,000 raised with the Miracle Ball, but our committee's stretch goal was $50,000. We surpassed all of them! That is incredible and double what we made last year!! Ahhh!! It is just so awesome!!
We auctioned off a Daytona Speedway racing experience with riding in the pace car included and, for that, had the 2007 24-hour winning car brought in to take pictures with. Oh my goodness, that was so neat and watching it get driven into the tiny area was pretty great as well.
Before the auction started, we had a quick word from the doctor that is in charge of the Palliative Care Program at All Children's Hospital. This program helps the children and families battling life altering or life limiting diseases get proper medical care in a kind, loving, and comfortable environment. In fact, this program cares more about the comfort of the patient and the wishes of the family than most anything else. Which is exactly what any person would wish to have in those heartbreaking situations. This was also a great reminder of why everyone was there and a great intro to our auction.
Oh, and just one picture of my dress since I am in love with it!
Our auctioneer started off with a dollar bid (something I would highly recommend doing for every auction). For us, the dollar bid was for a super nice bottle of champagne donated by the president. When the bidding got to $40 I interrupted our kind auctioneer and brought up two more bottles. Then, our auction chair interrupted again and brought up some of her own. At that point our auctioneer asked anyone with anymore bottles to come on up.
Our entire committee was introduced that way. It was such a fun thing and really got the bidding going. When things started slowing down, a friend and committee member brought up Trader Joe's 2 Buck Chuck and that got us another $500 in bidding. I could not help but laugh. And then, when the bids got to $2,000 for some wine and spirits, I was shocked.
The Dollar Bid was the best way to start up the auction and a great way to get people donating to a good cause rather than trying to get a good deal.
After that came some more auction pieces, all of which went for more than they were worth- woot woot! And, finally, we ended with an incredible and informative movie that talked about what All Children's Hospital does for the Sarasota community. It is a great video that we have been working so hard to make and I just might have to put it up here pretty soon as well!
Then, it was time for our final speaker, Tony Colton, who talked about his experience with All Children's Hospital and about being a child cancer survivor. Wow. He got to stay up with our auctioneer as we did a straight donation time we dubbed "Gift from the Heart". During this time, people raised their paddles whenever they wanted to donate and a volunteer would come around with a donation form and light up ring. Everyone wanted to donate and nobody wanted to be the putz without a ring. That part alone brought us over $13,000! Can you believe it?!?!?!? I cannot.
Then, came dancing and relaxing and the closing of our silent auction. My Dad won the Regions bike we had up for bidding and decided to take it for a joy ride. I don't known anything funnier than seeing a grown man in a tux riding around on a green bike. Hilarious! The hubs and I won a family fun basket that included zip lining, iTunes gift cards, AMC gift cards, and a few others for places around town.
Overall, it was a fantastic night that seriously helped a ton of kids in our area! It also went off without much of an issue.
