by Kirby Lindsay Laney, posted 6 October 2015
On October 24th, at Hale’s Palladium, our community will gather together again for an urgently needed fundraising auction for B.F. Day Elementary School and literacy programs for our children in need.
While attendees are needed to fill tables, and to buy the unique items and unusual experiences that have been donated for the auction, right now there is still time for the donation of more creative auction items. Do you have a piece of art, an exceptional product or, best of all, a one-of-a-kind experience that you can offer up, to raise money to fund reading help at B.F. Day?
Support Literacy Programs
“We’re raising money to fully support the literacy program,” explained Ole Carlson, one reading teacher at B.F. Day – and the head volunteer organizer of the Community Auction. B.F. Day needs funding for staff, materials and support items for kids to use to build reading skills.
“If we don’t get them now,” Carlson observed, “they are just drowning by middle school. They have programs at the middle schools, but it isn’t as helpful.” At B.F. Day, they have a few different programs they can use, such as Scholastic, System 44 and the i Read program, that, “teaches kids to decode,” words on the page, to learn the 44 sounds of the English language, and to learn to read for themselves.
Carlson works with small groups of children – the ones that can’t figure it all out in the course of standard school curriculum. “We have a lot of kids who, for whatever reason, are having a lot of problems, especially around third grade,” he explained. “They become very good at hiding in class,” Carlson observed, at pretending they understand while they slowly fall more and more behind. Carlson has a fourth grader reading at second grade level. “We need to catch them in elementary,” he said, “or they are in the special needs program by middle school.”
Right now, B.F. Day and Seattle Public Schools don’t have enough money in the budget to fund the extra teachers and materials these kids need. And there aren’t enough qualified volunteers available to make up the difference. Raising $40,000 through this Community Auction, and through donations from caring neighbors, can make a tremendous difference in the life paths of these children.
A Full Evening Of Philanthropy & Entertainment
The B.F. Day Community Auction will include entertainment – particularly favorites from Moisture Festival such as Ron Bailey and Godfrey Daniels. Local dignitaries, B.F. Day teachers, and Fremont mover-and-shakers will also be on-hand to give, and bid on, donated items. Beverages, both adult and non, along with appetizers and hors d’oeuvres, will be a part of the evening.
Weeks before the auction is on, biddable items include:
- a week in Palm Dessert
- unique art works
- a private Scotch Tasting at Red Door
- a poker tournament
- tours, restaurant certificates, and tickets to live entertainment
- certificates for Brown Bear Car Wash and U-Park Systems
- three-hours personal instruction in glass blowing with a local artist
- and much, much more…
Carlson is collecting up items, and he’s particularly seeking the intangibles –lunch with policy makers, first-ever experiences, and personal services – that give buyers (and givers) a real chance to do something out-of-the-ordinary.
Support Our School, Students & Staff
B.F. Day Elementary School is more than just another public school. It is Fremont’s own school, where our kids have attended for over 100 years. In 1985, when the Seattle School District planned to shut down our school, our community rallied and demanded they keep it open – and we promised to lend our support to our students, staff and structure.
We’ve kept that promise. In 1996, the Fremont Chamber of Commerce hosted the first of a series of annual auctions for the school. In 1998, B.F. Day parents, and staff, took over organizing, until 2010 when volunteers to pull off the effort became too difficult to come by.
Instead, our community has been coming together for a big effort when the need becomes most acute. The literacy program is a desperate need. Can you help?
Donations for auction items can still be accepted until October 19th. Please send information to olecarlson59@gmail.com
Tickets can still be purchased for the actual auction, at Hale’s Palladium on October 24th from 5p – 8p. Purchase a table, for you and your friends, for a $1,000 donation – or purchase an individual ticket for $50 per person. Again, contact olecarlson59@gmail.com about tickets, or attending.
Thanks to corporate sponsorships, all donations made at the October 24th B.F. Day Community Auction will go 100% to funding literacy programs at our school. Consider how you might be able to help a child learn to read, and make a bedrock difference in the direction of his life!
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©2015 Kirby Lindsay. This column is protected by intellectual property laws, including U.S. copyright laws. Reproduction, adaptation or distribution without permission is prohibited.