Double Dippin' Donors

One of the things I like most about doing fundraising is getting donations. It is amazing sometimes what you can get just for the price of a postage stamp or a well timed request. We are currently in full Get Donations mode for our yearly Auction--called TV LAND--that will take place December 16th.

I have a couple of fun stories about some donations that recently took place.

At our recent Wine Tasting (which, by the way, brought in a total of over $2,800), one of the items up for Silent Auction was a seat on the Stanford bench for the upcoming USA Basketball game. The bidding was heated, but Su Schaffer finally prevailed. Just as we were wrapping up the Auction, we found out that Su had donated the seat back and that the 2nd high bidder could buy it. So, Su's high bid was paid as well as the 2nd bidder's $$. Nothing like doubling up on the money just by the kindness of one of our great fans!

The 2nd story makes me smile--it's just so ironic! Many of you know our Fan Spirit winner from last year--Lily Wong. Lily is a key member of our fundraising committee and, at our meeting last week, she came bearing donations. And when I say bearing, well, there is a special meaning to that! Lily plays in many fundraising golf tournaments each year and recently took part in one benefitting the Cal Softball team. Now normally I would want to smack her for doing that, but Lily has a knack--she wins prizes at the tournaments. So she trotted into our meeting with a brand new Nike golf bag and rounds of golf from FIVE local golf courses--all donated to Cal and now going to benefit Stanford, too! We joked that maybe instead of soliciting donations, perhaps next year should just send Lily out to more tournaments!

So, can you be a double dipper too? Got any gift certificates sitting around that you aren't going to use. Maybe a new in box something-or-other that you don't know what to do with? Some nice wine languishing in you cellar? Maybe a vacation home that is available for a week or weekend? If so, we'd love to hear from you! Get in touch with Eileen at 650-725-8104 or email at eroche@stanford.edu.

Make sure you have the TVLAND auction on your calendar--we have already got a lot of great donations--even if they have only been donated once!

What a Great Day!

If you missed the Wine Tasting, you missed a wonderful time! It was a great day to meet up with FBC pals as the season approaches. All of the coaching staff plus our Great Eileen were there to chit chat about summer adventures and what is on tap for the new year.







We also had special guests! Brooke Smith stopped by before going home to pack for her trip to Italy the next day--she looked great and was raring to get started on her new life adventure.



And the surprise guest of the day was Stacey Dales of ESPN and Chicago Sky fame. She was a guest of the Stanford staff and seemed a bit sheepish to be there at first, considering the *ahem* relationship between OK and Stanford. But all was well--we are gracious fans, after all!--and soon Stacey was holding court, surrounded by FBCers. She commented to me that she always thought that Stanford fans were amongst the best in the Nation so I told her to gives us props on ESPN! I must admit, I was starstruck!





Our hosts Randy and Harry from Vino Locale really rolled out the welcome mat--they just love us and the feeling is mutual. We sipped a great selection of wines and supped on marvelous food.



Many thanks to Harriet Benson who pulled this all together--as usual, you're the best! Also props to Katrina and Donna for manning the sign in, Spragoo for the wonderful flowers and Judy for manning the silent auction. BTW, this was not a fund raiser per se, but we did sell off some great items. I will recap the $$ in a later blog. And thanks most of all to everyone who attended--we had a great crowd!








Next Up? FIRST PRACTICE!! Hope to see you there!